Cook, shop, eat, wash, sing while you read
Sep 28, 2010
SAVE the Children research from 2007 to 2008 found that children in developing countries were struggling to learn to read. This was common in classrooms that were child-friendly and in which the teachers used an active teaching and learning method.
SAVE the Children research from 2007 to 2008 found that children in developing countries were struggling to learn to read. This was common in classrooms that were child-friendly and in which the teachers used an active teaching and learning method.
Alarmed by these findings, Save the Children developed an innovative programme called “Literacy Boost,†which engages the broader community — from teachers, students, parents and community members in helping young children learn how to read both inside and outside the classroom.
To promote reading among children in Uganda, Save the Children shares 10 steps all parents can take to boost early reading skills among their children.
1. Tell a story to a child. Then discuss the people, places and events in it. Do it more than once if you can, and ask the child to help you retell the story.
2. Promote reading while feeding your family. Ask your child to name the ingredients, count them, sort them by size or by colour.
3. Sing a song together. Songs have rhymes, meter and great words that are important for children to learn.
4. Promote reading while shopping. Make a shopping list together and read back from the list as you shop. At the market, ask your child to point to items that start with a particular sound.
5. Tell your child about the steps in your daily work or chores. Talking about ordinary daily routines like washing dishes or making the bed. You can also introduce new words.
6. Read a book to your child. Help them learn to turn the pages of the book, teach them which is the front and which is the back of the book.
7. Make reading materials. Create a simple book of five to six pages, with a picture on each page and a few words of text.
8. Read a loud labels on packaged food or items at home. Ask children to point out words that begin with a certain letter or ask them to rhyme words in the text.
9. Read and describe signs. Ask your child: What letters are written on? What colour it is?
10. Choose a letter of the day. In a central place, draw a letter of the day on a piece of paper or in chalk on the wall.
Compiled by Save the Children
Alarmed by these findings, Save the Children developed an innovative programme called “Literacy Boost,†which engages the broader community — from teachers, students, parents and community members in helping young children learn how to read both inside and outside the classroom.
To promote reading among children in Uganda, Save the Children shares 10 steps all parents can take to boost early reading skills among their children.
1. Tell a story to a child. Then discuss the people, places and events in it. Do it more than once if you can, and ask the child to help you retell the story.
2. Promote reading while feeding your family. Ask your child to name the ingredients, count them, sort them by size or by colour.
3. Sing a song together. Songs have rhymes, meter and great words that are important for children to learn.
4. Promote reading while shopping. Make a shopping list together and read back from the list as you shop. At the market, ask your child to point to items that start with a particular sound.
5. Tell your child about the steps in your daily work or chores. Talking about ordinary daily routines like washing dishes or making the bed. You can also introduce new words.
6. Read a book to your child. Help them learn to turn the pages of the book, teach them which is the front and which is the back of the book.
7. Make reading materials. Create a simple book of five to six pages, with a picture on each page and a few words of text.
8. Read a loud labels on packaged food or items at home. Ask children to point out words that begin with a certain letter or ask them to rhyme words in the text.
9. Read and describe signs. Ask your child: What letters are written on? What colour it is?
10. Choose a letter of the day. In a central place, draw a letter of the day on a piece of paper or in chalk on the wall.
Compiled by Save the Children