Importance of reading in child development

IN support of the Cape Argus’ collaborative Book Drive with Milnerton Primary School and Jan van Riebeeck Primary School, local teachers and education experts addressed the importance of reading in child development.

Educational Psychologist Louis Benjamin said reading was not an activity learnt in a natural process, it was through human development and human evolution that we learnt to read and communicate with the alphabetic system.

Benjamin’s work is dedicated to teaching children a conceptual language for learning and to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children that suffer from learning difficulties.

“Given the complexity of reading and the various socio-economic issues we face, it’s not surprising that we come across the issue in South Africa where it’s found that nearly 80% of children cannot read. Even when children are able to crack the code and read, they are unable to derive meaning from what they are reading,” said Benjamin.

The psychologist said it was essential that all children were exposed to huge amounts of language, and collaborative initiatives such as the book drive were a good start to assisting with this.

Retired teacher and ex-principal Brian Isaacs said reading was the basis of civilisation and for children, it was the key to advancing in the world.

“As it says on the corridors of South Peninsula High School, read the word to read the world,” said the ex-principal.

Isaacs said it was the duty of the teacher to ensure their learners are able to read and read with comprehension.