The Department of Education (DepEd) has issued memo No. 244 s.2011 DECLARING NOVEMBER AS NATIONAL READING MONTH OF EVERY YEAR AND NOVEMBER 25, 2011 AS THE NATIONWIDE ARAW NG PAGBASA.

Reading is an important aspect of the whole learning process and not just a part of language development.

Reading is the basic foundation for learning. In this day and age when students are more adept at copy-pasting that they pass off as research, the fundamental reading (and writing) skills needed to create original research and documents seem to be rare traits in students.

We want our children to learn to read. We want our children to love to read. We want our children to have fun reading.

So how would we encourage them to do so?

They’d probably argue that reading does not just limit to holding a book and reading this. Sure, reading translates to many mediums like those troves of “comic book” treasures in the internet, e-books, magazines, newspaper articles and even instruction manuals of the latest gadget bought.

Technology has changed the way people read. I for one used to do an all-nighter, an I-can’t-put-a-good-book-down-until-I-finished-reading habit while tossing and turning on my body pillow. All these reading habits have changed because of technology. Yes, I’ve been into e-books several years before the tablets were invented because I read a lot of these in my old Palm Pilot and big Symbian phone. I’ve read almost all HP books (except 1,2 and Deathly Hallows) in e-book format.

In this blog, I’ve written posts about reading:

• children’s books to read like Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom, Grover, Grover, Come on Over, Franklin is Lost
• reading can take many forms like this rebus story
• some teaching techniques

On Friday, my youngest daughter will go to school “dressed” as a storybook character. We’ve been doing this storybook character for a long time when the teen-aged oldest child was still in preschool. Since we already have a costume worn by Kuya from last school year’s drama club presentation, we will just add details to it. No buying since we will adhere to the school’s “recycle and reuse” costumes rule.

Other school activities lined up till next week are: fashion show (for the storybook characters), speech choir, declamation pieces, English Night presentation, Drama Club presentation and exhibit of works related to reading and literature.

Reading is fun. Reading is great.

Now, off to prepare to face a student who asks: “Why can’t I read like my classmates?”

Been up at 4am, body clock adjusted to waking up at this ungodly hour even if it’s a Saturday morning. Coupled with the fact that the other night was almost a sleepless one with the youngest child sick and the son having wheezing/asthma bouts due to the change in weather, I don’t know why I’m even awake at this time.

Bed weather and all, the brrr months are here to stay made colder by the rains.

With nothing to do, I turn on my phone and read the latest with what I’m subscribed with in Twitterverse. Nothing much interesting because it feels like I’ve read one thing or another with the headlines including snippets on factory farming (now this is definitely a disturbing topic), equipment leasing, short marriages, and murders of family members of local (and international) showbiz personalities.

I want to go out for a walk with my new pair of shoes but no can do, it’s drizzling. I don’t know if I can make it tomorrow for the Millennium Run since I haven’t gotten my race kit yet.

I’m rambling. I think I should go back to bed or tackle the laundry since I’m not going anywhere today, being a long weekend and having no students because they have Saturday make-up classes. I guess it’s one of those off-days where I can’t squeeze out an ounce of writing mojo. Argh.

Laundry it is.