Educators, parents and children converged at The Palms Resort on Providenciales Wednesday 12 October 2022 for the launch of the “Raising A Reader” Program. This program being implemented by the Education Department is a home – based literacy initiative that provides storybooks and guidance for parents and caregivers on the importance of shared reading.
The “Raising A Reader” program aims to help families develop the habit of reading together with their children and practice making it routine. Reading to children from birth helps to foster healthy brain development, healthy relationships, a love for reading and the literacy skills that are critical for success in school. The approach will take the form of a weekly book bag rotation allowing children to take home a book bag each week filled with exciting books to practice the habit of shared reading. Moreover, the Department anticipates that the “Raising A Reader” Program will motivate children and families to maintain the habit of reading together at home by establishing connections with the various libraries.
Acting on a 2020 survey conducted by UNICEF where only 55.1% of children 0-4 years of age lived in households with three (3) or more children’s books, coupled with the negative effects that the covid-19 pandemic has had on children’s literacy performance, the Department of Education thinks that this is the opportune time to heighten an awareness for reading to children from an early age.
In fact, storytelling is a medium that parents can use to form closer bonds with their children all the while helping them to increase their love for language and reading. Good stories will enable children to listen intently, and form mental images of events. Furthermore, storytelling fosters good family ties, for indeed, the family is the foremost teacher and the home is the child’s first and influential school. Children will copy what they see their parents doing. In today’s digital world, it is becoming increasingly harder for children to see their parents holding a book. For this reason, it is vital for parents to allow their children to see them holding a book in their hands.
Education Officer with responsibility for Early Childhood Education, Miss Heidy Williams says,” The core idea is to increase access to books and to offer support for strengthening the culture of reading at home”. “We want to help families understand that reading to their children from an early age matter”.
Subsequently, the Department of Education in collaboration with the Primary Health Care Department will work together in a “Reach Out and Read” program to distribute age appropriate books to children from birth to age three during well-baby clinic visits.
Meanwhile, Hon Rachel Taylor with responsibility for Education, Labour and Customer Service applauded the joint effort between the both Ministries, as reading would be embedded in children from an early age. Hon Taylor continued to say, “We must make a concerted effort to ensure that parents are actively involved and engaged in the reading process of their children”.
The programs are expected to have an enormous positive impact on families by providing the resources needed to make reading more of a priority in the home. Commenting on the initiative Deputy Director of Education, Mr. Mark Garland, believes that the children will drive the process as they become motivated about the books. Reading aloud will ultimately become a daily activity ensuring that every child has the healthy foundation needed to develop holistically.
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