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16 de March de 2022

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Children’s literacy: why are children having difficulty learning to read and write?

According to the National Curricular Common Base (BNCC), children’s literacy must occur until, at most, the 2nd year of Elementary School I. That is, this is the maximum period for learning, which continues in the 3rd year, with spelling lessons and grammar.

In addition, goal five of the National Education Plan predicts that, by 2024, child literacy will be universal. That is, that all children be literate by the end of the third year of elementary school. It is worth remembering that, ideally, children enrolled in this stage of education are around 8 years old.

But, according to a survey carried out by the NGO Todos pela Educação, it will be difficult to meet this goal. This is because the number of children enrolled in public and private schools between the ages of 6 and 7 who cannot read and write almost doubled between 2020 and 2021.

According to the study, the index jumped from 25% to 40.8%. In practice, for every five children in this age group, two are not literate as they should be.

Among the causes for this delay in child literacy is the covid-19 pandemic. With the suspension of face-to-face classes, many children had difficulties in assimilating the content of remote classes and often did not have access to technology to attend classes. 

The deficit in children’s literacy does not only affect the learning of the Portuguese language, but also all other areas of knowledge. In addition, writing and reading skills are essential for the social and human development of young students.

How to improve children’s literacy?

To get around the situation, a joint effort is needed between governments, families and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

With the return of face-to-face classes, governments must create public policies to reinforce schooling and improve learning. The Ministry of Education, for example, created the National Literacy Policy, which seeks to improve the quality of literacy and fight illiteracy. The program has tools for teachers and managers and encourages family reading.

It is up to parents and guardians to encourage school life and monitor learning difficulties. CSOs, on the other hand, can create projects focused on children’s literacy, such as after-school classes, activities that explore playfulness and technology to arouse children’s interest and facilitate the learning process.

Ramacrisna Institute believes in the importance of early childhood education for the personal, cognitive and professional development of our students. Therefore, students from 6 to 13 years old can use the Digital Literacy Table. 

 This is an innovative teaching resource in the early childhood literacy process, which helps children become familiar with written language by fitting colored blocks onto a large electronic board. As they are fitted, the letters are recognized by special software and appear on the computer screen.

In this way, children participate in interactive activities, learning to recognize the alphabet, build words, find meanings, discover accents and interpret texts. The Table helps students in Portuguese and mathematics, in addition to activities that include fables, proverbs, nursery rhymes, tongue twisters, among others. In this way, the child gets closer to the world of letters, rebuilds their self-esteem and expands the learning process.

 The coordinator of the Ramacrisna Library and responsible for the Literacy Table, Cleide Moura, explains that the device’s features attract and arouse the interest of children and, therefore, it is extremely important for this moment.

“With the covid-19 pandemic, many children were harmed and delayed with reading and writing. So, the use of the table meets this difficulty, in order to reduce this lag”, Cleide explains.

Learn more about the Ramacrisna Institute

The Ramacrisna Institute was created more than 60 years ago and its principle is to develop learning, professionalization, culture, work and income, technology, sports and leisure projects for socially vulnerable communities in 13 cities in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte.

 In all, we’ve already contributed to transforming the lives of nearly 2 million people and you can help us continue our work. Click and learn how to help.

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