Belle West children complete literacy camp
DPI, Guyana, Friday, August 10, 2018
Several children aged four to twelve from Belle West, West Bank Demerara (WBD) are now equipped with improved literacy skills after completing a five-day literacy camp.
This was organized by the Belle West Harmony Group and the Ministry of Social Cohesion under the theme “Reading is my Superpower”.
The camp was aimed at improving literacy standards of children, for them to become aware of letters and their respective sounds through phonics, phonemic awareness, shared reading and vocabulary and by helping the community be aware of social cohesion through education.
“I learned that when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and it is a long sound and I learned how to write a composition,” said a proud eight-year-old Hemraj Persaud. He also enjoyed playing other educational games and was especially fond of the craft sessions.
Seven-year-old Vidya Motilall echoed similar sentiments: ‘I learned new things every day. I learned to read and write!”
Parent, Pamela Lachman welcomed the idea: “I think it was a very good initiative because, parents, children and everyone benefitted in the community and I think it is a good move and we should have this more often.”
Treesha Surujmohan, one of the teachers said that it was very interesting: “They were very responsive to whatever we taught them which we focused on reading; we did a lot of letters, letter identification, letter sounds and a lot of enrichment activities.”
Regional Executive Officer, Denis Jaikaran commended the initiative and congratulated both parents and teachers for dedicating their time.
By: Isaiah Braithwaite
Images: Jules Gibson