Republic of the Philippines

Col. E. De Leon Elementary School

Schools Division of Paranaque City

Every child has a right to learn to read. Every child requires literacy skills to open up life choices and opportunities. Research has shown that children have a greater chance of success in school and later life if they develop foundational skills such as literacy and numeracy. A lack of these skills is strongly linked to social exclusion and reinforcement of inequalities and disadvantage.

In December 2020, Col. E. De Leon Elem. School result of reading level in the 1st quarter shows that out of 2111 enrolled learners from Kinder to Grade 6, 683 or 32.35% are paragraph reader, 428 or 20.27% are sentence reader, 419 or 19.85% are word reader and 581 or 27.52% are said to be non-reader. As the school year goes on, there is progress in the reading abilities of pupils. The Schools Division of Paranaque City conducted an online seminar workshop entitled MyON Teachers and Students’ Training last March 2021 via Zoom. This program aims to equip teachers by providing digital reading materials and strengthen students reading comprehension. Selected schools were chosen for pilot testing. In line with this, Col. E. De Leon Elem. School conducted virtual training via Google Meet to upskill the teachers/adviser’s competencies in teaching reading.

It is truly quite challenging to a teacher on how you are going to monitor the reading ability of pupils in this time of pandemic. During the face-to-face classes, Our school had already reading materials that could be used for reading remediation.  These are reading materials in English and Filipino. The school sent soft copies of those reading materials to parents for them to use with follow ups from the respective adviser. Online Kumustahan is a big help that little by little  progress can be seen in the pupils’ as they read during online classes.

There are several tips on how to develop reading as a habit.

• Set time – You should have a specific time every day when they are going to read for at least 5-10 minutes.
• Find a quiet place – Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair and curl up with a good book without interruptions.
• Reduce screen time on television/internet – This may be difficult for many people. Every minute you reduce the use of internet and TV, you could use it for reading.
• Read fun and compelling books – find books that are gripping and keeps you going.
• Make it pleasurable – make your reading time your favorite time of the day.

 -Gilbert Tumpang