PUPPETS PUSH JOY OF READING
SKILLS FOR LITERACY SHOULD BE DEVELOPED FROM BIRTH, AND NOT FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF FORMAL SCHOOLING RITA MONTEITH, CREATOR
A LOCAL primary school teacher of nearly 30 years and screen and media student Rita Monteith has joined with her fellow students to promote their project Bedtime Books at the Take 1 Short Film Festival at the TAFE Queensland Coomera campus auditorium.
The children’s television series uses puppetry and actors to convey the important message of instilling literacy by reading to children at bedtime.
The project concept focuses on the bedtime of little Harry, a puppet character, with a story being read to him by one of his parents or relatives each night.
Besides being entertaining,
Bedtime Books is a vehicle for promoting Australian authors and illustrators and developing good bedtime habits for children.
Creator of the concept, Ms Monteith is hoping that celebrities would feature in the series as guest readers.
Additional characters in Harry’s bedroom are other puppet characters that join in the banter. They include Rafi the Orang-utan, Luisa the Lamp and Errol the Platypus.
Students from local high schools have also assisted Ms Monteith on working the puppets during the filming process.
“Early literacy is something I am very interested in fostering,” she said.
“It is increasingly recognised that skills for literacy should be developed from birth, and not from the commencement of formal schooling.
“Children naturally develop verbal language skills by hearing others speak.”
Ms Monteith has taken time off her teaching job at Guardian Angels at Ashmore to complete the diploma of screen and media with TAFE Queensland at its Coomera campus.