Statement of the Research Problem
The rural environment could be unfavorable to a child’s education, as parents in rural areas are often disadvantaged because they live in poverty and lack adequate, formal school education, which frequently results in them having low literacy skills. “Literacy is a powerful force in the economic and political empowerment process; it is also of particular importance for alleviating poverty that exists amongst the largest proportion of the disadvantaged communities in South Africa” (Matjeke, 2004:23). Poverty poses a problem because parents of low socio-economic status are not able to sufficiently provide for the basic functional, social and academic needs of their children. Parents in rural areas tend to teach their children how to survive in a rural environment with little or no education, rather than encourage children to strive for more than their current circumstances. It is therefore crucial that factors contributing to the impact and role of parents involvement in their children’s literacy development be identified and ways in which parents can ...
Literacy programs should be an integral component of every community. Not only do these programs serve adults and foreigners, but they also serve those that live with the problems of poverty throughout their daily lives. In 2000-2001, 15.7% of students missed 21 or more days during the school year. Students who miss many days of school because of illnesses beyond their control often fall behind in their studies. Many literacy programs help these students excel in what otherwise would have been a deficiency in their learning.
My literacy journey commenced at a young age. My story begins with the typical bed time stories and slowly progresses into complex novels. Some points in my literacy journey have made me admire the written word but other times literacy frustrated me. These ups and downs within my story have made me the person I am today. My parents noticed that my reading was not up to par with other children in kindergarten and I was diagnosed with mild dyslexia at the age of five. My parents provided me a reading mentor named Mrs. Mandeville who has shaped my literacy journey in many ways. Events in my childhood have shaped my literacy in various ways.
Deborah Brandt (1998) wrote “Sponsors of Literacy”, a journal where she explained her findings of the research she has done on how different people across the nation learned to read and write, born between 1900, and 1980 (p. 167). She interviewed many people that had varying forms of their literacy skills, whether it was from being poor, being rich, or just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time.
Jones Diaz, C. (2007). Literacy as social practice. In L. Makin, C. Jones Diaz & L. McLachlan (Eds.), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice. (pp. 203-216).Marrickville, NSW: Elsevier.
Reading, writing, math, science, and other skills learned in school are instrumental for a child to have in order to be successful both in higher education and in life. Many factors contribute to a student’s acquisition of these skills such as their learning environment, preschool education, mental and emotional development, parental involvement, and dedication to learning. The issue that many young children are facing, however, is that all of these factors can be greatly influenced by the Socioeconomic Status (SES) of their family. Unfortunately, up until recently it was virtually unknown how teachers could help these “at risk” children, which caused an increase in the likelihood of children dropping out of school or repeating a grade. However, it is now becoming clear that there are ways that educators can help ensure children have successful academic careers and lead better lives.
Proctor, B. D., and Dalaker, J. Poverty in the United States: 2001. Washington, DC: Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2002. http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p60-219.pdf. Quigley, A. Rethinking Literacy Education: The Critical Need for Practice Based Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.
Kozol argues that the lack of education not only inhibits the lives of illiterates, but greatly affects the lives of their children as well. He states, “Illiterates cannot read the letter the children bring home from their teachers. [...] they cannot help with homework. They cannot write letters to the teacher. They are afraid to visit in the classroom. They do not want to humiliate their children or themselves” (188). Ensuring that the next generation is literate and prepared with the knowledge to function out in the world is crucial to stopping the spread of illiteracy. As the references state, illiteracy complicates matters of education for the children of illiterates, making it more difficult for them to overcome the shortcomings of their parents. Illiterates themselves also face their own struggle with education. Kozol states that “Illiterate mothers, as we shall see, already have been cheated of the power to protect their progeny against the likelihood of demolition in deficient public schools and, as a result, against the verbal servitude within which they themselves exist” (189). His statement reinforces the difficulty that illiterates face when it comes to educating their own children, and how they are completely helpless to provide any meaningful help when it comes to ensuring a proper education for both themselves and their
Education is the ticket out of poverty, sadly though children from poorer backgrounds lag at all stage educationally. (cpag). Kids in these less than ideal situations are in a dangerous spot, one slip up and they could completely screw up their hopes of a bright future. Mark Mathebane was aware of narrow gap he had to make it out, his persistence through school is what ultimately rescued him from Apartheid. Mark’s relationship with his father was surely a rocky one, but once Mark had begun to find success in school his father did more than just take
Literacy has a strong impact on ones life’s in many reasons such as it can open doors for an individual to become successful in the world. Literacy is never easy to develop but once it is developed it is something that can never be forgotten. Achieving the quality of literacy can determine your efficiency in life. An individual environment throughout early childhood has an impact on the quality of literacy they develop.
According to Dostal and Hanley (2009), emergent literacy is a slow and continual process that occurs from birth until a child can read and write in the ‘traditional’ sense. It incorporates all parts of language, such as viewing, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Emergent literacy skills and understanding can be facilitated in kindergarten and pre-primary through carefully organised routines, transitions, and learning centres, such as the science centre, writing centre, and socio-dramatic play centre. Emergent literacy can also be developed through the use of teaching strategies such as a language experience and shared reading.
A comprehensive approach to literacy instruction is when reading and writing are integrated. This happens by connecting reading, writing, comprehension, and good children’s literature. A comprehensive approach to literacy should focus on the many different aspects of reading and writing in order to improve literacy instruction. This includes teachers supporting a comprehensive literacy instructional program by providing developmentally appropriate activities for children. Comprehensive literacy approaches incorporate meaning based skills for children by providing them with the environment needed for literacy experiences. This includes having a print rich classroom where children are exposed to charts, schedules, play related print, and
In Nigeria,majority of parents are stack illiterates .They neither attend religious schools nor western type of institutions. They neither know how to read nor write. As far as these people are concerned, books of any kind are irrelevant to their life. They neither encourage their children to attend schools nor read. Majority of their children are always on the street hawking, begging or uselessly wasting their precious time. Gubio (2008) observes that right now there are more children out of school than those in school. Millions of Nigerian children have no access to any form of learning. Aboyede (1993) regrets that when it is realized that about that about 70% of Nigerians are believed to be illiterate, we can easily appreciate why for us book is not yet an important medium of knowledge and information transfer. Buttressing this point, Omole and Ladan (2011) posit that parents do not encourage children by providing them with good books at home to improve their reading
Living in poverty exposes children to disadvantages that influence many aspects in their life that are linked to their ability to do well in school. In the United States of America there are an estimated 16.4 million children under the age of 18 living in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). “The longer a child lives in poverty, the lower the educational attainment” (Kerbo, 2012). Children who are raised in low-income households are at risk of failing out before graduating high school (Black & Engle, 2008). U.S. children living in poverty face obstacles that interfere with their educational achievement. Recognizing the problems of living in poverty can help people reduce the consequences that prevent children from reaching their educational potential.
The results of this research showhow South Africa faces many challenges when it comes to poverty and education. Education is the most important industry in South Africa and it is being treated like a priority. Many social issues, for example poverty, have an influence on education and makes it and even bigger challenge. The businesses in the education industry have to deal with many challenges, caused by poverty. It is difficult to adapt and/or to deal with these challenges, especially in the macro environment because there is no control over the elements of the macro environment. However, these schools should consider the above solutions to these challenges as they could be helpful.
Poverty is immensely one of the main causes of illiteracy, which is the reason that minorities are so greatly affected. People of a lower socioeconomic status cannot afford to send their children to schools of adequate competency nor can they afford the materials needed for their children to succeed. Cultural influence can be an impacting factor in illiteracy because children mimic the things that they see. Parents are encouraged to read with or to their children to attempt to bre...