The Joy of Reading
// Heather Williams Katz
For many children in the Dominican Republic, reading is a privilege that not everyone can enjoy.
Many children may learn how to read at a very basic level but never really master it. At our schools, we begin teaching the basics of reading in kindergarten. For those children who have problems learning how to read, their teachers work with them individually. We also have a teacher specially dedicated to working with children who have learning difficulties. Even our mission dog, Bentley, sits with some of our students every week to listen to them read!
The children are very excited every week because they get to read to our mission dog, Bentley.
Our goal is that each one of our students will be able to read proficiently—so that they may excel in school and beyond. Of course, the most important reason for teaching our students how to read is so that they can read the Bible for themselves. One little girl proudly told me that she learned to read and is happy because now she can read the Bible by herself and memorize verses each week for one of our Bible clubs! ~Heather Williams Katz
