Why is reading important in Childrens lives?

• Books help children devleop vital language skills.

• Reading can open up new worlds and enrich children's lives.

• Reading can enhance childrens's social skills.

• Reading can improve hand-eye coordination.

• The more we read the more informed we are. It's the means to upgrade ourselves constantly. Reading helps us keep abreast of the times.

• Reading helps develop creative and critical thinking skills. It develops vocabulary, sharpens language skills and leads to greater cognitive development. It leads to a better understanding of self.

• Children who are introduced to reading at an early age are seen to have a better understanding of phonics. They acquire language skills with ease, have a richer vocabulary and possess greater cognitive abilities.

SA adults lag behind in global literacy stakes

South Africa is experiencing serious issues in the current literacy levels.

The South African Institute for Race Relations issued a statement earlier this year confirming that comparing to other emerging markets South Africa is lagging in adult literacy despite spending more on it.

South Africa has a adult literacy level of 89%. The only other country with a lower literacy level is India at 62.8%. The factors faced as challenges in adult life may be negated with the introduction of effective reading programs introduced in the foundation stages in a child's life.

Therefore focusing on enforcing a strong foundation in the early education phase of life with regard to reading, writing and numeracy may positively assist these children in their adult life. The importance of reading cannot be stressed enough.

Reading paves the way to education and self-enlightenment

Reading gives you incomparable pleasure. Read one good book and you will know what the joys of reading are. Reading nourishes your mind. Reading gives you both information and knowledge (and teaches you to distinguish between the two). You eat to keep your body fit and working, right? Then reading is food for your mind and soul.

Reading informs you of what's happening around, helps you remain updated about what's changing and not just that. Reading encourages you to think and imagine, think out-of-the-box and imagine the impossibles.

Our group believe that the empowerment by bring the wonder of reading and writing as well as numbers to our children, we assist them later in life.

Early Literacy Fact

Early Literacy Facts

Did You Know?

• 1 out of every 5 of our nation's school-age children suffer from reading failures.
• A majority of all poor readers have an early history of spoken-language deficits.
• A child who is not a fluent reader by 4 ^th grade is likely to struggle with reading in adulthood.
• Poor reading and writing skills have a devastating lifelong impact - 75% of school dropouts report reading problems, and at least half of adolescents and young adults with criminal records have reading difficulties.

The importance of literacy for learning

"Literacy is a critical tool for the mastery of other subjects and one of the best predictors of longer-term learning achievement. Reading must be considered a priority area in efforts to improve the quality of basic education, particularly for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds." EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005: Summary Unesco Publishing

"Reading for fun is a foreign idea to many people," says Prof Thomas van der Walt, head of the Children's Literature Research Unit at Unisa, "Yet research shows that there is a direct link between reading (stories) - and school results. The more children read, the better they do at school. Even in maths and science." Daily News October 28, 2004

More Thoughts, facts, figures on reading ...

Thoughts, facts, figures on reading

 The following books are considered to be excellent books teachers could recommend to their scholars:

Teachers' top 10 books for children

1. "Charlotte's Web" by E. B. White

2. "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak

3. "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein

4. "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss

5. "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown

6. "I Love You Forever" by Robert N. Munsch

7. "Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo

8. "Oh! The Places You Will Go" by Dr. Seuss

9. "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton

10. "The Polar Express" by Chris Van Allsburg

Happy Reading guys ...

Top 10 books for kids ...

Thoughts, facts, figures on reading

"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark." — Victor Hugo

 

Kids' top 10 books

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

2. Goosebumps series by R. L. Stine

3. "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss

4. "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss

5. Arthur series by Marc Brown

6. "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

7. Shiloh trilogy by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

8. "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen

9. "Holes" by Louis Sachar

10. "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

"We read to know we are not alone." — C.S. Lewis

Thoughts on reading

I came across an article today which is quite interesting. It gave a bit of facts and figures on reading focusing on the reading habit of kids aged 8-18. The article is dated April of 2010 a bit old but its scary to think what the facts are in 2012.

Our kids are losing their ability of free thinking which is characterised by reading. They get too wrapped up in games, movies, mobile phones and - don't say it - the internet, that creating a habit of reading and imaginative thinking are becoming foreign concepts in today's youth.

Thoughts, facts, figures on reading

• Today's 8- to 18-year-old's spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes using entertainment media across a typical day — or more than 53 hours a week.

• Over the past five years, time spent reading books remained steady at about 25 minutes a day. Time with magazines and newspapers dropped from 14 minutes to 9 minutes a day for magazines and from 6 minutes to 3 minutes a day for newspapers. 

• The proportion of young people who read a newspaper in a typical day dropped from 42 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in 2009. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

• More than three out of four of those who are on welfare are illiterate. (Washington Literacy Council)

Now a few famous and infamous quotes on reading:

"A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others." — Abraham Lincoln


"The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." — Dr. Seuss

"The greatest gift is a passion for reading." — Elizabeth Hardwick


"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance." — Confucius

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." — Harry S Truman

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all." — Jacqueline Kennedy

"Literacy unlocks the door to learning throughout life, is essential to development and health, and opens the way for democratic participation and active citizenship." — Kofi Annan

Drop-off point ...

We have drop-off points in various areas of the Cape Peninsula.


Drop-Off Areas

• Bellville South Area - The University of the Western Cape at the EMS Faculty in the Foyer, boxes are available for drop-off.

• Tygervalley/ Durbanville Area - Sanlam SIM - Request to speak to Abdul Chilwan preferably email before you go to drop-off.

• Parow Area - Eskom - Request to speak to Amanda Taho, preferably email before you go to drop-off.

• Claremont / Newlands Area - Request to speak to Shauna Windvogel,  preferably email before you go to drop-off.

Our Email Address is theschoolliteracyproject@gmail.com.

Kayamandi Primary School



Picture 1

 

As you all know the school which we would like to assist is the Kayamandi Primary School in Stellenbosch. In this blog we would like to give you a little bit more information on this school.

The school was established in 2008, the current principle is Mr M Mdekazi. We heard about this school from one of our team members whose mother is a teacher at the school.




When we were issued this project and were given the scope thereof; we concluded that Kayamandi would be the perfect beneficiary for this project.

 The Vision of the School

We want effective teaching and learning with SOLID FOUNDATION and STRONG PILLARS that are co-operative in a WELL EQUIPPRED SCHOOL with SAFE and DISCIPLINED ENVIRONMENT, so that LEARNERS CAN EXCELL in their RESULTS.

The Mission Statement of the School

• To put the INTEREST of the learners at the centre of everything we do.
• Empower educators with skills.
• Continuously DEVELOP learner's abilities through innovative teaching.
• To have the BSET EDUCATORS for the work at hand.

 


Picture 2



Picture 3

 

In the last 4 years the school made major strides in educating the learners of the community and beyond. They are however faced with various challenges. With the rapid growth the school has to cope with lack of various resources such as:

• Cold winters in the area which results in leaking classes
• Extremely hot weather conditions in the summer causing learners to collapse of the heat
• The school does not currently have a sick bay
• Some of the classrooms are makeshift containers (see pictures 2 and 3)
• The School does not have enough toilet facilities for boys and girls (see picture 4)
    
    

  

  Picture 4

      

  

  Picture 5

  
    The playgrounds for the learners are not the uneven and may cause injury during the winter months it becomes flooded and muddy (see pictures 5 and 6)  

    

Picture 6

   

Picture 7





The physical activity and sports fields are outside the school terrain as a result of  insufficient space at the school (see pictures 7 - 9) 

 



Pcture 8

 

Picture 9


     

Picture 10

 

Picture 11

  



The School belongs to a feeding scheme which is sponsored by the department, at the moment there is not sufficient space available to store and goods. (see pictures10 and 12) 



Picture 12

• We are so proud our learners and educators who are participating in community projects, making time and effort to assist. (see picture 13 and 14)


  

Picture 13

 

Picture 14





The proud teachers of Kayamandi Primary School

International Literacy Day ... 8th of September

We are so exited ... the 8th of September is International Literacy Day!!!

We are so proud to be part of the movement to bring literacy to your nation. Starting at Kayamandi Primary School in Stellenbosch.

Look at what our government has to say about this momentous occasion on the following website: http://www.info.gov.za/events/un/literacy.htm.

"Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. 

One in five adults is still not literate (two-thirds of them women) while 72 million children are out-of-school. 

A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts but also for renewed political will and for doing things differently at all levels - locally, nationally and internationally. 

In its resolution A/RES/56/116, the General Assembly proclaimed the ten year period beginning 1 January 2003 the United Nations Literacy Decade. In resolution A/RES/57/166, the Assembly welcomed the International Plan of Action for the Decade and decided that Unesco should take a co-ordinating role in activities undertaken at the international level within the framework of the Decade."

Check out the following related websites for more information about International Literacy Day.

• http://www.wan-ifra.org/microsites/young-readers
• http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/literacy/
• http://www.tes.co.uk/resourcecalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=9&nbyr=2012&evcode=1177
• http://all4women.co.za/more/news/improve-literacy-readathon.html

As we come to the end of National Book week in South Africa we would like to encourage all our participants to continue supporting children and adults in their quest to become literate. See the following website: http://devterms.co.za/commemorative-days/national-book-week-5-9-september-2011/. The objective of National book week is as follows:

"This year International Literacy Day falls on 8 September 2011. South Africa will be celebrating National Book Week this week. Do your part as a responsible citizen and buy a child a book. Education is the greatest gift that you can give a child. You have the power to develop future leaders."

If you haven't donated a book yet, don't feel left out we will be needing books always in different part of society. Help us help Kayamandi Primary, they are worth it.

Students ... lend me your books ...

Udub students ...

This is a special appeal to all Udubbers ... In line with the project, we are appealing to all of you  to donate only one primary school age appropriate book ... in aid of Kayamandi Primary School.


Our children are in need of the correct guidance from their educators however without the necessary resources and the lack of urgency from government they are falling by the wayside. The ability to read and write are essential life skills that cannot be denied to our children.

Our country needs the future responsible engineers, doctors and highly skilled workers of the next generation to revive and breath sustainable life into our economy and country as a whole.

We urge you to unite as the previous students of this great institution did in the apartheid years, who fought hard and long for the right to education and equality for all in our great country.

We welcome to you lend us your skills in any form or matter to assist in the successful execution of this project.

Students for the University of the Western Cape, Make Us Proud.

A Challenge for you ...

We need a specific donation ... in a word a Book Case!!

Look at these interesting designs ...

Are there anyone out there willing to create of these beauties or submit a design for a exceptional book case. Its has visually appealing, functional, creative and simulate curiosity of the pupils.

We will post dimensions and proposed space it will occupy in the
classroom on our blog so stay tuned.
In the mean time ... Let the creative juices start flowing ...
Think out of the box ....

 

 Design a bookcase which use limited space in a classroom, can
move easily or preferably wall mounted; make use of limited light weight but sturdy materials.
But most importantly will attract the imaginations of young children.

Our first set of Books ... Yay!!!!

Thanks for the messages of support -  and books yes :) We received our first donation!!



Just loving the ABC book for the little one's



Look at 'em - thanks to me mom's for scratching thru her stash of old stuff... but this is just the very tip of the iceberg guys. We need more ... Loads more. Lets make this happen.

Our kids are our most valued commodity. Lets help them be the future we need and strive for. Lets build a nation of achievers.

Help our children READ

It is widely recognised that the South African’s schooling system performs well below its potential and that improving basic education outcomes is a prerequisite for achieving the country’s long-range developmental goals. It is also recognised that the inability of many of our school children are unable to read or write and this has therefore slowed their cognitive thinking and writing skills.

As a project we decided to donate all and any books that we can manage to collect in the Month of September to an under privileged school. Thus A Book donation drive – requesting members of society - YES that mean all of you to donate books aimed for mainly grade R to grade 7 learners. Any old book lying around in the house will do. Even if its not in the range of or target group. Bring us any and all books - the more the better. We have recognised an underpriviledged school, Kayamandi Primary, located in Stellenbosch as the receipient if this initiative. 

The objective if this project is to create a culture of reading mainly focusing on primary learners, resulting in a solid foundation in in relation to numeric and literacy skills as well as better equip students in future.  Availability of libraries in disadvantaged communities is limited and majority of parents don’t have funds to purchase books, so with this project the aim is to donate books that will lead to higher levels of literacy.

Help us by assisting teachers with the needed resources by means of books, books and more books. 

For peeps who would like to know more about the initiative but do not want to chat too publicly email us at TheSchoolLiteracyProject@gmail.com. We would love your donations and help a child read :)

We have arranged various drop-off points - if you want to donate. Please lend us a helping hand and give a child a bright future. Follow our progress in our aim to assist the scholar’s of Kayamandi Primary School on our blogspot and share a book or two.

Watch this space ...