Get your kids hooked on books
HELP University is holding a Children’s Book Fair in conjunction with its Early Literacy Conference.
To be held for eight days from Nov 20 to 27 at HELP’s main campus in Pusat Bandar Damansara, the fair will carry 30,000 handpicked titles imported from the United States, including 10,000 children’s titles.
Storybooks, general knowledge books and activity books for children will be priced from RM3.90 to RM9.90.
“It’s a very special book fair. What you’re getting is a wide range of quality books that are not easily available in Malaysia and at very low prices.
“It’s going to be a real treasure hunt for teachers, as these books can be easily used across the curriculum,” says HELP University’s Department of Early Childhood Education head Dr Frances Lee Moi Fah.
Dr Lee explains that the department, whose first cohort of students will graduate in 2014 (making it the first private university in Malaysia to offer the course), conducted a longitudinal pilot study on early literacy initiatives.
The research findings from this study was disseminated during the conference that took place on Friday and ends today.
“Essentially, all research in early childhood shows that if children begin at birth with lots of stories, poetry and book experiences, then they will progressively acquire writing skills or the composing ability,” she says.
Teachers and parents thus need access to good quality children’s books which is why the book fair is important.
“Without it we cannot realise the findings and the recommendations of our research.”
The book fair will also include hands-on, or what Dr Lee likes to call “act-on”, workshops for children based on books sold at the fair, including clay sculpting, pandan-weaving, paper recycling and Christmas decoration-making.
There will also be a lucky draw, in which an iPhone 5 is up for grabs, for those who make purchases of RM20 and above.
Meanwhile, the conference will also provide parents with ideas on what they should be doing at home, such as how to set up home libraries and how to choose the right books for children.
Dr Lee explains that one important thing parents can do is to read to their children.
“If parents do it on a regular basis, it’s not just reading the story. It’s spending quality time with the child. And this bonding is very important because literacy comes from warmth and sharing.
“Our main aim is to try to contribute towards breaking the chain of being too exam-oriented and towards realising the maximum potential of the child to be able to read as a hobby.
“In recent years, there have been stiff competition from multimedia and electronic games and we want kids to maintain an interest in books once they have cultivated it early.”
Dr Lee wants to bring the joy of stories to children and hopes, if the event grows into an annual event, to expand into carrying Malay, Chinese and Tamil language books.