Building a nation of readers

I was rather disturbed by the contents of an open letter from the SA department of education to all school principals, recently published on the 11 August in The Daily Sun, the letter encourages teachers to teach children how to read (a good thing that!)

However, the DG says: “ Since the introduction of the national curriculum statement, may teachers believe they do not have to teach reading anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth. Reading is probably the single most essential skill a child needs and it should be acquired as early as possible.”

I agree 200% with the Tyobka. What disturbs me is that teachers referred to in this missive seem to have missed this fact, and that they needed a reminder from the education department.

Tips for parents to play a role in building a nation of readers

As you might have noticed, the Centre for the Book is one of my favourite sites.

Today I was exploring the site (too much valuable information to take in at once) and I came across these tips for helping build a nation of readers.

* Read to your baby
* Teach someone to read
* Get a library card and use it
* Read aloud to someone
* Start or join a book club
* Give books and magazine subscriptions as gifts
* Keep books and magazines around the house
* Learn about and support local literacy projects
* Set aside a special time in the day to "drop everything and read"

How many of these activities are already part of your everyday life?