The journey to literacy begins with reading early
MARGARET Fuller, an American journalist/women’s rights advocate, is remembered for coining the phrase “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader,” emphasising the power of literacy.
About 758 million people across the globe cannot read.
According to South African government statistics, the youth literacy rate for those aged 15 to 34 is more than 90%, with adult literacy (ages 35 – 64) just under 80%.
Experts have long argued that the gateway to literacy is reading at the Early Childhood Development (ECD) phase – from birth to 9 years.
As it happens, this is also a sector that has been hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lizelle Langford, spokesperson for the Read Educational Trust, said after months of lockdown, few preschools, playgroups and creches reopened, for financial reasons.
“Now, more than ever, even the simplest activity like reading aloud to young children is priceless in this extraordinary context,” she said.
As part of the Read Group, The Read Institute is built on the foundation of the Read Educational Trust, a South African non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in teacher training and school resource provisioning and actively promoting literacy through different programmes, since its inception in 1979.
According to the Read Educational Trust, early literacy skills include handling books, being able to name books, knowing how stories work, recognising sounds and letters, growing vocabulary and sharpening listening skills.
All of these are imparted when a caring adult or teen reads aloud to younger children.
Reading and brain development
Langford said Baroness Susan Greenfield, a neuroscientist, aptly explained how reading helped to lengthen attention spans in children and improved their ability to think clearly.
Greenfield once said: “Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end – a structure that encourages our brains to think in sequence, to link cause, effect and significance.
“It is essential to learn this skill as a small child, while the brain has more plasticity, which is why it’s so important for parents to read to their children.
“The more we do it, the better we get at it.”
Langford said this summed up the importance of starting a habit of reading to your child and with your child, and eventually encouraging them to read independently. This practice can begin in infancy, or even when they are still in the womb.
“Reading stories to your child will help their brains develop the ability to analyse cause, effect and significance of events – and it will be an enjoyable activity that will add to the bond between the parent and the child.
“In addition, reading can be a fun and imaginative activity for children, which opens doors to all kinds of new worlds for them.
“Apart from that, it will also prepare them for academic activity as they enter formal schooling.
“A child’s reading skills are important to their success in school and work. Reading and writing are important ways we use language to communicate.”
Covid disruptions
Langford said Read had already seen how the Covid pandemic had negatively affected the school readiness of children, who participated in a project in which their developmental milestones were measured at the end of 2020.
“The actual effect and our ability to overcome any shortfall in skills development will only be realised much later in the schooling of the children.
“Their foundational skills, which that would normally develop in ECD centres are not in place.”
Given that South Africa is expected to experience a third wave of Covid-19 infections, she said parents should set an example for their children by making the time to read together and doing it regularly.
“Discuss what you have read and make it fun by making up new endings or adding characters to the story to make it a personal and new story.
“Go from reading a story to talking about the story to enacting the story – full entrainment for the whole family.
“As much as we need to find creative activities to do inside the house, remember that playing outside is very important – use a skipping rope to work off some energy, play hopscotch, or enact a shadow-puppet play outside.”
Resources
Langford suggested free resources that parents could tap into. Visit the Read website, www.read.org.za, where you can download audio books.
“Reading aloud is a great way to encourage vocabulary development and to engage children in conversation about what happened in the story.
“They can also visit the website of Social Innovations (www.socialinnovations.co.za) where they will find Grade R activity books developed by Read for parents to use at home with their children.
“These activities will encourage cognitive development and small motor skills,” she said.
◆ Follow the READ Institute on Facebook: www.facebook.com TheREADInstitute, Twitter: www. twitter.com/READEInstituteSA and Instagram: www.instagram.com/ thereadinstitute.
◆ For more information, visit www. thereadinstitute.co.za