American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer John Dewey once said, "If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow."

Recognizing this, in 2012, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology made a decision to focus on the primary school curriculum in an effort to impact learning at the secondary levels. They condensed the curriculum and placed increased emphasis and contact periods for reading, comprehension and math.

Reading and grammar periods for grades one to three were doubled while the periods for mathematics were increased by almost 50 percent. Workshops were initiated to equip teachers with the necessary guided approaches to the teaching of reading in the content areas, and professional development workshops were provided and continue to be a priority.

With that in mind, Oakes Field Primary School teacher and math co-ordinator Dyontalee Turnquest-Rolle addressed the topic "First Things First: Establishing Strong Number Concepts in the Primary Grades (Kindergarten - Grade 3)" at the recent one-day Yes to Education Conference about strengthening student engagement.

The conference placed emphasis exclusively on primary education and developed a program to meet the specific needs of teachers from pre-school through sixth grade.

Turnquest-Rolle said it is important for students to understand number concepts early in their schooling so that later on in life, math can be easier for them.

"We do not want them to see mathematics as a chore. We want to foster attitudes of excitement for mathematics and a love of the subject," she said.

The Oakes Field Primary teacher said the third annual Yes to Education Conference allowed educators the opportunity to pursue professional development, which should be continuous because education is forever changing, even though the core remains the same.

"Our students are twenty-first century learners. We have to teach them how to stand out in a crowd and present themselves as marketable," said the teacher.

During the conference, the first grade teacher of six years said the goal was to figure out ways to establish strong number context in young students and meeting them at their point of interest while being aware of the curriculum and the expectations of the Ministry of Education.

"Our job is to figure out ways to integrate the six strands [number and number sense; geometry; statistics and probability; measurement; and pattern, functions and algebra] and finding interesting ways to integrate those strands," said Turnquest-Rolle.

Her suggestion to her peers was to find the common interest of their classroom and design lessons and activities that appeal to those interests.

She said for kindergarten-aged children, everything for them is about how they can help their parents, so she integrated sorting objects into their lessons.

She said they sorted socks to give a connection to real life.For her first grade students she addressed plain shapes which students had to identify through application of the property of shapes.

"I would give them a clue which they would have to identify, and if they got it right they could get up and dance," she said.

For her second grade students she incorporated fractions into the lesson through the use of an ice cream sundae which almost all the students said was their favorite treat.

They received three scoop sundaes, with one scoop adorned with sprinkles and then had to figure out that one third had sprinkles. It's a lesson Turnquest-Rolle said can be done with any treat, but the educators needed to first find out the student's common interest.

She also said the Yes To Education conference helped teachers to see how lessons learned in core subjects can be taken over to other subject, and to shee how the foundation is important to building and having strong mathematics skills as well as reading and comprehension skills.

Turnquest-Rolle said she also took away from the conference the fact that children are the country's greatest resource and that they should be trained for the jobs that exist, so that the country can become more self-sufficient.

This was the first year that organizers focused the Yes to Education Conference exclusively on primary education and developed a program to meet the specific needs of teachers from pre-school through grade six.

Over 160 educators from New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros and Exuma attended the third annual conference held under the theme "Strengthening Student Engagement: Strategies that Work".

Also addressing the conference were Dr. Anthony Muhammad, director of New Frontier 21 Consulting in Detroit, Michigan; and Rhonda Polisuk, principal of the Blue Willow Public School in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada.Dr. Muhammad in his presentation said that schools are the lifeblood of every community and that the cohesion of the adults or professionals is important.

"Some schools have the right tools, but if they do not have the right human environment it becomes difficult to take advantage of those tools.

The Yes to Education movement is very instrumental in exposing educators in The Bahamas to top-notch educators who can provide information about current trends in literacy, numeracy and intervention skills," said Dr. Muhammad.

He said that The Bahamas has the opportunity to be a world force by translating education into opportunities. Education minister Jerome Fitzgerald who was not at the Yes to Education Conference had congratulated teachers earlier at a Wendy's "Tunein To Reading Teacher's Conference" for their willingness to embrace change for greater success in their classrooms.

At that conference the minister said the children could not be robbed in anyway, because if they do, Bahamians rob themselves and the nation.Polisuk who spoke on the topic "Building a Balanced Literacy Program in the Primary Grades" said that with balanced literacy, specifically teaching reading comprehension helps students to read better and more deeply understand text, build upon their skills and achieve higher results.

The Blue Willow Public School principal said building professional capacity for teachers, administrators and directors of education is important because all parties need to work together to improve collective understanding and deepen knowledge about improving student learning through best classroom practices.

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Director Lionel Sands recognized the work of Makia Gibson, director of the Yes to Education Foundation, and his team for hosting the conference to offer educators current, relevant strategies to engage and re-engage students.

"It is imperative that an agenda of excellence and best practices be upheld in education. One way to ensure that our students are engaged is to facilitate constant re-education and re-training of teachers," said Sands. He encouraged the educators to cultivate an environment for their students that fostered mastery, understanding, self-expression and involvement with others.

Oscar Dixon, senior master at Bishop Michael Eldon School in Freeport, Grand Bahama; Monique Hinsey, director of educational programs and alumni affairs at The Lyford Cay Foundation and Sharmane Miller, educator and consultant were also speakers at the conference.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian