P2P on phonics instruction - the critical skill Ghanaian children need to overcome illiteracy

Most children in Ghana are being taught by rote learning. This means they are taught to memorise words by repetition, which in effect means they are unable to read any new or unfamiliar words. That’s why we are focused on teaching through phonics instruction - the critical skill the Ghanaian children need to overcome illiteracy and thrive!

So what’s the fuss about phonics?

Contrary to what you might be thinking, phonics is not a specific teaching method. Instead, most types of phonics instruction focus on teaching the sound-spelling relationship to the readers so they’re able to map sounds to spelling. What this means is they’ll be able to come up with an approximate pronunciation of a word which they can check against their oral vocabulary. As soon as children learn this relationship well we may say they have broken the “code”. Phonics basically teaches the reader to decode new unfamiliar words. Being able to decode the words assists the reader to develop their word recognition skills. AND of course the more words you’re able to recognise the more fluently you’ll become in your reading. Phonics is truly a big deal…

However to enable teaching effectively, means our teachers in Ghana, especially in low income and poor communities really need our ongoing support.

Teaching the teacher

Teaching the teacher is a great way in which we empower them to teach these wonderful children. The eagerness and gratefulness with which they welcome us as mentors are extremely heartwarming. We’ve all got a common goal in mind - increase the effectiveness and quality of education, to enable increased health, lowered crime, increased employment opportunities and of course gender equality for our girls and women.

Helping the teachers with their phonics programmes affords us the opportunity to refresh their skills which ultimately leads to benefit the children in their classes.

A tug of ‘heart’

O the excitement of the children! So precious and infectious. Although our children are not exposed to all the same resources that children from other parts of the world are, they value every opportunity. There really is a commitment and determination within them that speaks to your heart. If we realise that many of them have to travel great distances just to get to a street lamp so they can do homework or study at night, it really tugs at your heart. It changes your perspective about moaning and complaining if you actually have light at home in a safe environment to do all that you need to do.

Thank you is such a small word

What an amazing opportunity for us here at P2P Ghana with the donations from our supporters to make a difference in these children’s lives. That’s why we value every donation and every bit of support so much. We are impacting the lives around us every day and we experience the hope it brings to these children first hand.

Literacy is such an amazing cause to be a part of and it truly remains one of our top goals for impacting education in Ghana. We are so excited about what 2019 holds for us, and we believe this year holds even greater accomplishments for our children being impacted daily by your ongoing support to our organization.

From us here at P2P - Thank you!