Western Union's Reading Week in Montego Bay

Mrs. Tanya Fraser-Martin with a Gr 5 class

    Since 2010, I have taken opportunities to read from 'Delroy in the Marog Kingdom' at selected schools during Western Union's Reading Week. Because St. James had been the featured parish in 2013, no school had been chosen for 2014. However, they were happy that I volunteered to read, and that I chose Chetwood Memorial Primary as the venue. On Tuesday, April 8, in the afternoon,  I was joined by Mrs. Tanya Fraser Martin of Western Union's Montego Bay office. She is the Business Network Manager responsible for WU agents in Trelawny, St James and Hanover in Jamaica.  
    Between us we were able to read to four classes.
    I read excerpts from 'Delroy in the Marog Kingdom' to two grade 5 classes, one after the other. As usual, I got an enthusiastic response to my presentation which began with putting the frog in the pot.
   Meanwhile, Mrs. Martin read 'Slater Minnifie and the Beat Boy Machine' from "Flying with Icarus" by Curdella Forbes to another grade 5 class. The story is about a new boy in the class and a gang of bullies. Of the experience, Mrs. Martin said "They really loved the story and responded well to my questions. They listened intently, showed keen interest and I thought the story was ideal and relevant to their every day lives. The Teacher had a good command of the class. I enjoyed reading to them." Then she went to a grade 6 class to read from Diane Browne's "Island Princess in Brooklyn", the chapter about Jamaican's getting together to watch our athletes on TV.  

We also spoke to each class about the importance of reading stories for pleasure:

1. Reading improves vocabulary, grammar and comprehension.
2. Children who read 5 or 6 books in the summer holidays perform better in the following year than those who don't.
3. Reading stimulates brain development.
4. Reading improves performance in math... yes, math!

GSAT Ranking and School Size

The Jamaica Gleaner recently published an analysis of 2013 GSAT Scores, ranking schools according to their performance. The analysis revealed that the average performance of students attending Prep Schools exceeded that of Primary Schools. Most of the ensuing discussion focussed on reasons for this disparity. However, after taking part in the Twitter Chat on Feb 18, 2014, I was interested in putting together some data on the differences between rural and urban schools in St. James. I chose four rural, underpopulated schools and three urban schools for my investigation. I took data from Jamaica's Ministry of Education website  and the Gleaner's Survey.  The figures show that there are indeed underpopulated schools, with enrolments far below their capacity. They have enviable pupil teacher ratios, but abysmal performance. Their average GSAT scores are well below the  national average of 258, as shown in the table below. 

Parish: St. James

 School Name               %       Capacity    Current       No of     Pupil       # of           Ave 

                                 attend                     Enrolment  Teachers   Teacher  GSAT      Score      

                                                                                                 Ratio       entrants

Lottery Primary             82         260             53            6              27:1         6            211

Mount Zion Primary       93         150            38            3              19:1         3            161

Mount Horeb 

All Age and Infant          76         200            42            4              14:1         1            163

Salters Hill All Age        90         215            40            3              20:1          4            220

Granville All Age           73         710           385          26            18:1         74            239

Corinaldi Ave Prim        95         875         1,675         52            36:1       265            313

Chetwood 

Memorial Primary         94         585          1,157         33            39:1       191           284

     Of the urban schools, Corinaldi Avenue and Chetwood Memorial Primary are overpopulated, but are performing above the national average. Corinaldi made it into the top 100 schools in the survey, and GSAT's top boy, Mark Brown, attended Chetwood.  What is is about these urban schools which makes them perform so well? Yes, they have good teachers and good principals, but that cannot be the only reason for their success. I contend that it is the parents who make the difference. Parents have choices and the more concerned parents are the first to register their children in what they perceive to be the better schools. Being concerned parents means that they have done the best for their children up to the point of entry to the primary school, with many of these children alreay being able to read. These children perform better, therefore raising the standard of the school even more. 

      The underpopulation of the rural schools occurs not only because of rural-urban drift, but because these particular schools are seen as non-performers. What may have begun as a result of weak leadership, ends with concerned parents removing their children from these schools. With the exodus of better students, the standard of these schools drops even more. I think the facilities could be better used if these schools were turned into basic schools, and the present students sent to the nearest suitable school. Mount Horeb All Age and Infant School is about 4 miles from Cambridge where there are both primary and secondary schools. Based on the numbers, there would only be 4 students per grade to transfer. There is always an outcry when a suggestion is made to close a school, but as far as I can see, these schools are not benefitting the children attending them. 

      One reason Corinaldi is able to do so well is the the classes, although large, are more homogenous in relation to the ability of the students. There is a six-stream entry and, as children are ranked according to ability, teachers can tailor their classes to suit the learning rate of their pupils. In an underpoplulated school, each teacher would have to teach two or more grade levels.

New Building at Chetwood Memorial Primary School

    Chetwood was able to increase its capacity with some funding from the Catholic Church, which enabled it to construct a new building with five classrooms, a library, a computer room and an office for the guidance counsellor. The school also boasts a computer based system of teaching reading, and achieved 95% mastery in the 2013 Grade 4 Literacy Test.
    Children are coming to Chetwod from as far away as Mahfoota and Retirement. Why is a student from Retirement not attending Granville All Age? Here is an example of a school that has got a bad name in the past. For whatever the reason was, there is no justifiction for that now. When I did a bookreading there in 2012, I found the children to be well-behaved and attentive. However, as a good reputation takes a long time to build, the school is still underpopulated.

Granville All Age School

 The schools I chose for this discussion represent opposite extremes. Of course there are many rural schools which are not underpopulated and are performing well; and there are urban schools which are not overpopulated and are not doing so well. Attendance and punctuality  also impact schools' performance. All schools also have their quota of malnourished children, and children with undiagnosed and untreated behavioural and learning disorders. When members of the diaspora are deciding how they can give assistance, the problems may appear to be overwhelming. However, I think that their decisions should be based on available data, rather than on common  misconceptions. I hope this post has helped to dispel some of these.
     Last but not least, I would like to recommend support of the Granville Reading and Art Programme, GRAP, spearheaded by Natalie Bennett. It is making a tremendous difference in the community of Granville.
     

Fathers' Influence on Boys' Reading

In addition to literacy being the foundation of all learning, reading for pleasure has been shown to improve performance at school in all subjects, including mathematics. It is therefore of the utmost importance that boys not only learn to read but enjoy reading. Fathers have an important part to play in boys achieving this goal.

Most fathers would like to see their sons do well in school, but many are in the dark about of the best way of helping them. Men usually leave matters to do with school and reading up to the mothers, only getting involved when things are going wrong, when they tend to take a heavy-handed approach. Unfortunately, when it comes to reading, that can have the opposite of the intended effect.

     Volumes have been written about methods of teaching children to read, and hundreds of hours have been spent researching how children learn, but how a person actually learns to read is still a mystery. Methods go in and out of fashion, and one set of research contradicts the findings of another. But one observation remains constant— a child learns best in an atmosphere free of stress, in the company of a supportive and caring individual. Badgering and harassing a child, or otherwise communicating anxiety will result in the child having an adverse emotional attitude towards learning.

     Fathers are quite likely unaware of the strong influence they have on their sons’ reading. Boys look up to their fathers, whether those fathers live with them, or see them at frequent or infrequent intervals. Boys want to be like them. If fathers are seen to be reading for pleasure, and if fathers read stories to their young sons, these boys will want to read, too. If not, they won’t see reading as important. Fathers who scorn the activity of reading, and express sentiments such as that reading is a waste of time will certainly make boys lose interest.

     All negative reactions to boys’ attempts at reading, such as shouting, expressing disappointment, or walking away, are likely to have damaging effects.  One boy I was attempting to help with reading told me that his father beat him because he couldn’t read. No wonder he couldn’t read! Instead of seeing reading as a pleasurable experience, any attempts he made would be accompanied by feelings of anxiety and fear. A father who praises all his son’s attempts at reading will be rewarded by further efforts by the boy.

     Even if a father himself cannot read, or is a poor reader, he can still influence his son in the right direction, by expressing regret about his own lack of competency and encouraging his son to read to him. Important also is a father’s attendance at PTA meetings, where they can hear how other parents are helping their children. At one such meeting about literacy, at Chetwood Memorial Primary School, a father told how he likes to play football with his son. He also likes to read, so they read before playing football. Even if the son sees football as a reward for reading, it will still have a positive effect.

     At the time of that meeting, I was trying to help eight students with their reading. The parents of all of them had been specially invited to that meeting. Only one parent came - a mother. No amount of money, or input from institutions or organizations, could achieve such a positive result in promoting literacy in boys as fathers’ encouragement and affirmation.
     My post on Boys' Reading makes some other suggestions about why boys don't like to read and what can be done about  it. At the time of writing, I hadn't considered fathers' influence at all, but it may be the one missing link in all this discussion. 

Chetwood Memorial Primary Parenting Workshop 2012

Library at Chetwood Memorial where workshop was held

I applaud Chetwood Memorial Primary School for using an innovative way of explaining to parents how they can work along with the school in helping children to learn to read.

   On Wednesday, November 14, 2012, they invited selected parents to a workshop on "Creating and Maintaining a Literate Home Environment". Ms. Donna Clarke and her team of teachers gave a power-point presentation, starting with a case study. "A boy who spends most of his time watching TV, fails his Grade 4 Literacy Test, so his mother keeps him from school as a punishment." The parents’ responses were as follows:
• The mother should have had a discussion with the boy’s teacher.
Children like to read comics. If they don’t want to read books, allow them to read comics until their reading is good enough for them to read books.
• One father said that he likes to play football with his son. He also likes to read, so they read before playing football.

After these responses, the presentation moved on to suggestions for helping children with reading.
The notes below are taken from the brochures handed out at the meeting. The comments in blue italics are mine.
Facilitating Reading at Home.
• Be a model. Don’t expect reading to be important to your children if they don’t see you reading. Parents who can't read or have difficulty reading, could find a relative or friend to be a model.
• Start as early as possible. One year old is not too early. There are books written for that age group.
• Set aside a time for reading. Excellent suggestion.
• Surround them with reading materials.
• Give a book for a gift. I endorse this heartily.
• Encourage your child to swap books with friends. They can start a book club, with each child buying a different book or getting a book as a gift.
• Allow your children to select materials for reading. They probably won't like what you choose for them.

• Put specific times on your calendar each week when you will spend time with your children. During that time focus your love and attention on your child:

1. Read a book – talk about the characters, who are the main characters, what you like and dislike about the characters, what are their personalities? Which character do you think is most like you? If this seems too much like school to your child, just let them enjoy the story.
2. Watch a movie and ask the child to retell the story in his or her words. Be prepared to listen for a long time!
3. Play puzzles, crosswords, word games such as word Bingo and boards games – these will help develop children’s thinking skills. These should be fun. If they seem like a chore to your child, that defeats their purpose.
• Extend your child’s general knowledge by looking up a ‘fact of the week’ together. Good idea.
• Word of the week: find the meaning, make sentences, find synonyms and autonyms for the word (for older children) and cut the word out in its shape.(For children not yet reading. The shape of words is how children recognize them by 'look and say')
• Limit TV viewing on school nights – use it as an incentive for reading.
• DEAR stands for Drop Everything and Read. During DEAR time, everyone in the family sits down for some uninterrupted reading time. (Chetwood Memorial does this every day.)
• Check homework every night. Most important. Even if the parent can't read, it shows they are taking an interest.

Selecting Reading Materials
This is one of the most difficult things for parents to do. Taking the child to the library is a good way of finding out what they like. Don't worry if they choose something you think is too easy for them. It is all reading practice. If they choose something they later find is too hard, read it to them and let it guide their choice the next time.
When selecting books consider the following:
• Age
• Interest
• Reading level
• Purpose
• Length of text
• Size of print

Developing Reading and Comprehension Skills

• Read, read, read.
• Set a good example by letting your children see you read.
• Before reading a book have your child look at the cover and the inside pictures and predict what the story is about.

 Comprehension materials in the home.

• calendar
• food labels
• newspaper
• posters
• recipe books
• prescriptions
• road signs

Benefits of Reading to/with your children. Yes, Yes to all of these.

• They will develop a love for reading.
• It will help in building the parent-child relationship.
• Help to build confidence.
• It will enable you to recognize strengths and weaknesses in your child's reading.
• You will be a model for your child.

Other Home Activites
Children can

• Write a letter of request if they need to go somewhere.
• Write an apology when they have done something wrong.
• Write a report of incidents involving other siblings.
• Make lists; grocery shopping, books to buy or things to take on trips.

Always remember to celebrate your child's effort and achievements in reading. I would add, "Never say anything negative about a child's reading."

If all parents followed half of these suggestions, it could make a tremendous difference. Unfortunately, many of the parents who were invited didn't attend. This year I'm helping eight children in grade 2 who aren't up to standard in reading. All of their parents were invited to the workshop, but only one came. We need to change the mindset that it's solely the school's responsibility to teach children to read. Parents, please step up to the plate.