Phonics.... A says what?????

The greatest problem here in Banta is that none of the children know how to read. They have simply been taught to memorize a line and consider that reading. The problem with this method is that they don't understand the words they are saying and they don't know how to figure out new words. So Kristen and I are devoting this month to first teaching the teachers phonics, so that they are able to teach their students. We also have started meeting with small groups of children to work on letter sounds. At times it gets frustrating because they don't understand why they need to learn these things. Children in school are not taught to think for themselves. All their learning takes place simply from memorization. So when we ask them a question, they repeat our question, they don't even recognize that we are asking them a question. But we are seeing some progress as some of the children are beginning to recognize letter sounds and beginning to sound out words. It is encouraging when they have one of those ahah moments, when they understand what we are teaching them. In the evenings, some of the children come over to study and we are able to help them with reading as well. We just have to remember that even if we only teach a few children how to read, than all our time is worth it. You can pray that Kristen and I will have patience with the children and that we would be sensitive towards the teachers as we provide correction and training.