BACK TO BASIC

PETERSON P. TACAY

One of the main aims of teaching is to increase students' ability to accomplish goals and objectives in an educational context. In the current setup of education many educators would agree that basic learning skills are lacking in our learners namely: The three Rs—reading, ‘riting, and 'rithmetic—which are considered to be fundamental skills that educators must cultivate in their students since these will serve as a foundation for them to develop more complex knowledge and skills. Reading is a competence in which a person is able to use when dealing with texts. Reading can be considered as the primary skill to be taught in order to facilitate the development of writing skills in learners, because reading leads learners in familiarizing textual knowledge. Writing on the other hand, is the capacity to articulate ideas and thoughts in written form. Students' writing abilities develop their reading comprehension and sharpen their communication skills. Arithmetic embraces the skills of learners in using fundamental operations such as: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These skills are necessary for accurate and effective numerical calculations. Reading and writing together are highly interrelated and also form a strong relationship with each other. These skills are seen as the main activities that help pupils improve their learning style and self-perception. Analogously, in order for students to acquire numeracy skills, they must read numbers, comprehend word problems and get acquainted with the several instructional strategies that support their learning through varied writing, reading, and discussion in the classroom. Everything boils down to going back to basic, if a learner fails to gain mastery over these basic skills it is likely anticipated that the learner will face difficulty advancing to a more complex skills and competencies.

-oOoThe Author is Teacher II at Santos Ventura Elementary School