FAIRY TALE READING CAMP FOR CHILDREN

With children living in this very technological world, when information and knowledge is just at the tip of one’s finger, it isn’t easy for parents and teachers to keep children continuously interested in reading. The best way to easily catch children’s attention in reading, especially with very young children is by using fairy tales. But why fairy tales? Fairy tales create an alternate magical world for young children. It features the different seasons such as winter and spring and at the same time animates even wild animals which are most of the time dangerous for children but are mostly loved as characters in some fairly tales by the young. Fairy tale presents a great opportunity for new learning to occur especially when the teacher chooses and features a special fairy tale of the day. In here, the teacher or any adult supervisor may add a narrative twist or additional vocabulary words to strengthen their vocabulary and improve the children’s literacy level.

The best time of the year to engage pupils into reading is during vacation, during summer when pupils aren’t in school working with their school stuff. One way to do this is by establishing reading camps which features fairy tale reading. Fairy tale match the summer mood because it gives the feeling of no school magical which eventually keep children engaged into reading.

Shared reading can be one of the reading activities that could be done during fairy tale camp because it develops a child sense of togetherness and camaraderie. It allows children to evaluate as a group what they have learned about what they have read. This activity also connects one child with the other and even sometimes connects one culture with another. Through the careful supervision of an adult like parents, teachers or even grandparents, the children may be able to fully grasp at the values being taught in every fairy tale.

Independent reading can also be one strategy to be used during the fairy tale camp however, the children must still follow structure as to how they will be reading and should still be guided by an adult. The careful guidance and supervision during the independent reading, becomes a scaffold that will help children become critical thinkers and confident in the future. Independent reading is best used for older children ages eight to twelve years old.

To be able to have an effective fairy tale reading camp, the teacher must scout earlier for new tales to be used as a preparation for the summer camp. And to make the event even more interesting and much awaited, make a finale that can showcase the creativity of the readers through drama or dance as the ender for the season.

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I at Lourdes Elementary School, Lourdes, Minalin, Pampanga

The author is Teacher