Developing a literate environment for children<\/p>\n
Ahmad Bukhori, Bandung<\/p>\n
Early childhood education has gained more attention these
\ndays. Some people now recognize that the future of a nation lies
\nin literacy education, or teaching children reading and writing-
\nrelated skills.<\/p>\n
In this global era, good literacy education that provides
\nchildren with necessary skills to keep pace with other nations is
\nreally inevitable. The ongoing multifaceted crisis in Indonesia
\nwill worsen if people, especially children, are left uneducated
\nand illiterate. Once this happens, we will experience an
\nunimaginably saddening lost generation. To avoid this, we have to
\nprepare our children by creating for them a supportive literary
\nenvironment.<\/p>\n
Literacy has various definitions. In its basic sense, literacy
\nmeans the ability to read and write. Furthermore, Kirsch and
\nJungeblut in their book Literacy: Profile of America's Young
\nAdult define literacy as the ability to use printed and written
\ninformation to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and
\ndevelop one's knowledge. In its wider sense, literacy may involve
\nknowledge of information, politics, science and technology.
\nAlthough there is no single definition of literacy, there is a
\nuniversal agreement that everyone now needs a far higher literacy
\nlevel than that was needed here in the past. And this requirement
\nwill continue to grow.<\/p>\n
Literacy is the basis of a country's development. Dan Wagner
\nof the University of Pennsylvania states that literacy, or a lack
\nof it, closely relates to school dropout rates, poverty and
\nunemployment. These are three important indices of human resource
\ndevelopment that determine a country's position in the world --
\nan increasingly competitive, interrelated world. At present,
\nliterate children should not only be able to gain knowledge from
\nwhat they read but also function well in the society they live.<\/p>\n
A literate generation is an invaluable future investment.
\nConsidering its importance, some developed countries like the
\nU.S. have established a program called, "No Child Left Behind".
\nIt is meant to guarantee that not a single American child grows
\nup without getting the necessary literacy education and an
\nappreciation of reading and information.<\/p>\n
This guarantee is likewise really necessary for Indonesia.
\nOnce all our children are sufficiently literate, we will have a
\npowerful civil society in the future. A society that is not only
\nwell-informed in reacting to provocative issues, but also one
\nthat is intelligent enough to analyze and be critical of bad
\ngovernment policies. It could also mean an end to threats of
\nethnic and religious clashes, and eventually lead to good
\ngovernance. Considering how important a literate generation for
\nour country is, we have to make every possible effort to build
\nour children's literacy environment.<\/p>\n
Of many literacy aspects, family literacy is very urgent. The
\nmost valuable gift parents can give to their children is
\nliteracy. Parents can do many things to boost their children's
\nliteracy at home. Even before a child is born, a pregnant woman,
\nit is purported, can actually help build early literacy by
\nreading aloud to her baby before it is born.<\/p>\n
Extensive research has shown that reading aloud to children is
\nthe single most important thing a parent can do to prepare a
\nchild for future academic success.<\/p>\n
In addition, other family's activities should also enhance
\nchildren's reading interests. Besides reading aloud, parents can
\ninvolve their children in activities that require reading such as
\nreading recipes when cooking or reading directions in kite-
\nmaking. They can also establish a reading time for their
\nchildren, even if it is just ten minutes a day for instance. If
\nchildren are school-aged, parents can write notes to their
\nchildren and ask for their written responses, and ask them to
\nborrow books from the school library. In general, parents should
\nencourage children in all their reading efforts.<\/p>\n
Besides family, school policies and activities should promote
\nliteracy development. Schools should implement literacy-based
\ncurriculum by focusing on and incorporating reading and writing.
\nThe teaching of reading at kindergarten or elementary school
\nshould also contribute to students' reading enjoyment and
\nincrease their interest in reading. To achieve this, Indonesian
\nteachers must learn the modern strategies for teaching emergent
\nreaders. Then they can flood their students with a lot of reading
\nmaterials that stimulate them to use their reading skills.<\/p>\n
Along the same lines, teachers should incorporate reading and
\nwriting processes into critical thinking. This skill is really
\nnecessary to prepare a caring and empathetic generation. They can
\ndo this, as Miles Zintz of the University of Minnesota says, by
\ninvolving students in evaluating, drawing inferences, and
\narriving at conclusions based on evidence found in their reading.
\nThe reading materials can involve the use of news in mass media
\nsuch as newspapers, magazines, television and radio. In the
\nprocess, they really need to develop a questioning attitude to
\nbecome more discriminating consumers of news media, advertising
\ncampaigns and entertainment.<\/p>\n
The government should consider literacy development as a
\npriority by the provision of supporting policies. Books should
\nfree for all children. The establishment of actual functioning
\npublic libraries would be good too, particularly in cities. These
\nlibraries should be more accessible, adequately supplied and well
\noperated by professional librarians. In villages and districts,
\nlocal governments should facilitate the use of public offices for
\nreading space and libraries.<\/p>\n
Besides, other community members should also play their role
\nsignificantly. Book stores should provide reading rooms as well
\nas book discussions by inviting authors and other intellectuals.
\nBook publishers should not only think of economic benefits to
\nmake books more affordable. All these suggestions will enhance
\nreading interest that will lead to a critical, caring and
\nempathetic generation.<\/p>\n
It would be really heartwarming to see our children grow up
\nwith very high literacy. This will qualify them to successfully
\nkeep pace with other nations. This is unlikely to happen without
\nour real and continuous support and determination. Our children
\nwill like reading if they are exposed to it more. In this way, we
\nshould pay more attention to early childhood education and
\nparents need to be better examples. As the old saying goes: Like
\nfather, like son.<\/p>\n
The writer is a Fulbright scholar and Kelly student with the
\nSchool of Education at Boston University and a faculty member at
\nthe Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia Bandung. He can reached at
\nbukhoribandung@yahoo.com.<\/p>\n
--------<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/developing-a-literate-environment-for-children-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }