3rd July, 2017: The other day I met the mother of one of my student, while I was a teacher at St. Ignatius Secondary School in the Rupununi Savannahs of Guyana. She was eager to talk to me. She told me that her son said great things about me. Well, what else is new? Lol.
But then she started talking about her younger son: the one that was just eight years old. She said that the child just wouldn’t read. He learns other things and memorizes facts, but he just seems to have some problem with phonetics.
The woman asked me if I could give his son some lessons – try with him, that is, to make him able to read. She said that she tried all the reading programs on the market – Phonics, Leapfrog…you name it. They just don’t work for her son!
I thought for a while. Then I told her the story of the little boy from our village many years ago who had a similar problem. This child in question, whose name is Roger, is now working in an administrative position at the University of Guyana. But back in the day, when Roger was about 13 years old, the kid couldn’t have pronounced simple three-letter words.
But his parents were determined that he get an education, and his brothers too. And so he would come by our house in the afternoons, and on weekends, and we would help him to read little story books. Bit by bit, he caught on! A few years later, Roger passed his CXC with flying colors.
But I can’t take all the credit. Roger was deeply determined to succeed, and to overcome his obstacles. And that’s the point I’m making here: I can’t “make” any person learn unless they truly want to learn, unless they truly have a burning desire to succeed.
I thought for a while. What could I do to help this woman’s child learn to read, and later succeed in all areas of academic studies? That was when the Patrick Carpen Literacy Program was born. I had an idea, and that is where it all started.
I remembered a system my dad had used to teach us to love reading when we were kids, and it worked excellently. I told the woman that I’ll “try a thing”. I told her to get an MP3 player for her son, and I’ll do the rest.
I went home that day and started working on the Patrick Carpen Literacy Program. For short, I will call it PC Lit Pro!
I’ll give you updates on how successful it turns out on this same page. Check back for updates. But by the way…don’t you just love the PC Brand of Excellence!