Reading is the ‘write’ to knowledge for Durban North team
Meryl Ballantyne who taught junior primary level for many years, said phonics is key to literacy.
“THE right to reading is the right to education,” said Meryl Ballantyne.
“It’s basically the right to your future,” added Lynn Worthington.
As retired primary school teachers they work alongside Durban North resident, Maddy Loynes at Open a Book for a Child. The NPO is currently running a reading centre at Parkgate Primary school.
Loynes said the initiative started at Waterloo Primary when Sheffield Beach resident, Megan Viljoen reached out to assist with literacy.
“If you can’t read, you can’t learn. These children are going into Grade four and starting Geography and History which they didn’t do before. How can they learn if they can’t read,” said Loynes.
In case you missed it: uMhlanga charity celebrates Human Rights Day
“We helped Grade 2 and 3 learners who were transitioning from isiZulu speaking schools. They had to transition straight into English speaking schools in Grade 4. You can imagine the problems they face having to change languages. We helped them to read phonics in English,” she added. Ballantyne who taught junior primary level for many years, said phonics is key to literacy.
“Phonics is the most important part of learning to read. You have got to learn the letters and their sounds before you can read. You do learn whole words just by sight, but if a child gets stuck on a word, she’s got to be able to sound out the letters to build up the word. I have been helping in the reading room for the last four years. We deal individually with each child for about half an hour to 40 minutes each day,” she said.
Worthington said she started off with Viljoen, running the reading programme at Waterloo.
“I got involved in the junior primary foundation phase library at Waterloo and the plan was to set up the same library at Parkgate. We used to read to the Grade 3 learners. Unfortunately Covid-19 hit and the library plans fell by the wayside. The reading room closed down because of Covid, we revamped the whole library. There were thousands of old books which hadn’t been used for years. There were books that were inappropriate,” she said.
The team sorted through the books and gave some away to adult libraries. They then arranged the books in the library into genres such as sport, animals and popular authors.
You may also like: VIDEO: Reading fiction for fun improves language skills
“We also have what we call the ‘easy reading section.’ Some of the children can read very little. Some children at Grade 4 and 5 level are almost illiterate. The books are much easier but also organised into genres so children can find a book at their reading level,” she said.
The team also sets up displays in the library to highlight books on a topic. Currently there is a display on Human Rights. “The display is on children’s rights and what it’s all about,” she said.
Loynes thanked the many organisations that donated books to the project including the Rotary Club of uMhlanga and the Durban & Coast SPCA as well as several schools from the north Durban area.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
You can also sign up for news alerts on Telegram. Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5532.
For more from Northglen News follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also follow us on Instagram
