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When I realized that my sister’s children were struggling being out of school, I decided that when I have free time before and after work, I am going to help them with reading – so I started off doing phonics, with ‘th’ words and so on.
I did my little research and found out what might be suitable for them and from there I just try things and what doesn’t work, I change up what I do. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I have so many nieces and nephews, it’s like over 30 of them! I actually started teaching when I was in Grade 7 and my nephew was going to do the GSAT exam and he couldn’t read – he couldn’t read in Grade 6.
Balancing work with teaching nieces and nephews
Nowadays, I try to work with the children from 7am to 10am, which is before I usually start my telemarketing work, and after that I give them exercises and then they will go on the board to show me what they have learned.
I will give them spelling tests to see where they are. We also do math, I teach them their timetables and stuff like that to keep their brains active. Of course there are gaps that are not being filled – I’m not a teacher – so there are certain things that I cannot teach them but I do try.
Teaching them using a board in my bedroom
It’s not been easy, it takes a while, but they are coming along. Day to day, most times it’s seven kids so they learn to be quiet when I’m on a work call!
I don’t usually teach with devices, it can be a distraction; especially when I am working, they can be doing other things so I just use the board, the old way.
First in my family to graduate from high school
My mother had nine kids and I am the first of them to graduate from high school. Our mother grew us to be responsible, so as the older ones we have to look out for the younger ones. With me being the one who can read, it was my responsibility to teach the younger ones – so it was always something that I had to do.
As parents if you can’t read, find somebody. You never know, there might be somebody who can help your children because that’s what my sister did.
I’ve never thought about becoming a teacher. You just have to make each generation better than before, so that’s why I take it upon myself to make it a personal responsibility to help my nieces and nephews.
What's UNICEF doing?
Approximately 120,000 Jamaican children, as reported by the Ministry of Education, and Youth (MOEY), have been disengaged from learning since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Schools have had little or no regular contact with these students, who represent almost 25 per cent of the enrolment in public primary and secondary schools. UNICEF is increasingly concerned about children who are lost to learning, and we believe everyone who cares about the welfare of children and the development of this nation should be worried too. UNICEF is calling on the government to provide targeted support for these most vulnerable children. Read our recommendations published in The Gleaner.
