Literacy Lessons
Ensure Literacy Success
Literacy lessons can make the difference between being a person with good self-esteem and one who is totally miserable. Few of us learn to read and write naturally. Most need structured help. Lessons give us the skills to communicate so that we can live in our community without struggling.
Unnecessary Failure
For peace of mind we need to reach a level of
literacy which allows us to function comfortably on a daily
basis.
You may be a parent, home-schooler, classroom teacher or person who is trying
to learn English as a second language. If so literacy lessons are going to be
essential for you.
As a teacher, who works teaching literacy to children, aged 4 up to adults 50
plus, I have seen the tragic effects of bad learning experiences. Adult
students tell me they had awful teachers, they hated school, they weren't
interested, no-one understood how difficult it was for them, they couldn't
understand the process of reading and writing....whatever their
explanation...they know they failed back then.
Yet many of them are perfectly capable of learning these things as adults and what's more they absolutely love it! It's not fair to blame any one person, as a multitude of reasons may have contributed to these failures.
The Fallout From Failure
What disturbs me is that I see the results. Ninety per cent of the adults I work with hold down the most poorly paid jobs in society because they can barely read or write.
Their literacy skills are so low that they are
forced to work in manual labour. It is easier to put their heads down and do
hard physical work all day than to read, write or even speak. Many cannot write
their address or fill in a form.
The thought of being taught makes them want to run away. I know this because
adults have shared their literacy loneliness with me.
I'm sure that if you are reading this to learn about your child, you may think that talking about illiterate adults is irrelevant. But think of it this way...the adults I am referring to were once children. Their parents never imagined they would grow up with such poor literacy skills.
I know your child won't have to suffer like these people because of your interest in them. Parents or carers who take the trouble to look up a website on this subject are too involved with their child's welfare to let them fail.
Structure In Literacy Lessons The
Key
The thing I am concerned about is that children and adults need well-structured lessons with a patient parent/teacher to ensure they don't develop gaps in their literacy learning.
It is paramount that the lessons are well developed and presented to a learner.
Patience Is Vital
Everyone is different, each has a preferred way of
learning and a different processing time. Some people learn very quickly and
others take a few more seconds, minutes or hours to grasp a concept.
It doesn't matter how long your child takes. They will eventually learn if
given time to think about and understand it. If they are told to hurry or that
they are too slow, they will become mentally paralysed and close down.
Then
they will associate learning with feelings of inadequacy. From there
grows disillusionment and eventually avoidance of anything to do with literacy.
Tears, tantrums and a worrying loss of interest follow.
Children sometimes quietly withdraw, switch-off and stop learning without their
parents realising. Literacy lessons, which are so vital for our overall sense
of well-being and ability to function, must be presented in a positive, patient
and fun way.
On this topic, we'll go into more depth. I will define literacy, cover
pre-school literacy and associated activities, literacy games and teaching
literacy.
Go From Literacy Lessons to Why Is Literacy Important?
On
the surface it seems quite obvious. If you are reading this then you
are one of the lucky ones. I am a literacy teacher of children and
adults. Read about a day in the life of one of my struggling adult
students.
Go to Why Is Literacy Important
Go to Free Phonics Lesson
Go to What Are Sight Words
Go to First Grade Sight Words
Go to Sight Word List
Go To Phonics Literacy Homepage
