PROCLAMATION OF THE “ALL OF EUROPE READS TO KIDS PROGRAMME”
We – the undersigned participants of the Inauguration of the First International Week of Reading to Children, jointly organized on June 1, 2011 in Cieszyn and Cesky Tesin by the “ABCXXI – All of Poland Reads to Kids” and “Every Czech Reads to Kids” Foundations, in cooperation with local authorities and cultural institutions, express our firm belief that the ability and passion to read is an essential condition for the comprehensive development of every human being, enabling a rise in the level of his/her education and competence, full participation in culture, as well as the improvement of the quality of both individual and social life.
Currently in Europe, approximately 20 percent of young people are functional illiterates, which is mostly a consequence of the lack of time devoted to children by parents and the prevalence of the electronic media. We believe that restoring or introducing the habit of reading to children at home and introducing it to all educational and child-caring institutions has become an urgent need if we are to prevent illiteracy and the cultural deprivation of our societies. Thus, we hereby appeal to all people, non-governmental organizations and institutions responsible for the education of the young generation to introduce and support programmes promoting daily reading aloud to children and adolescents,
2 0 m i n u t e s a d a y . E v e r y d a y !
So that reading is always a joy and never an obligation, punishment or boring experience!
Reading to children positively affects their emotional development and improves their language and thinking ability. It also fosters memory and imagination, improves attention span, deepens knowledge, aids learning, develops moral sensitivity, induces calm, strengthens self-esteem and helps to create intergenerational bonds between children and adults. The habit of reading a book every day is all-too-precious when the lack of time for children is prevalent!
Reading to children builds their rich inner resources and is the best vitamin for their comprehensive
psychological, mental and moral development. It is also a vaccine against a variety of mass cultural threats. Reading is the cheapest way to raise a well-educated, cultured, good and happy persons.
Children love reading. It merely depends on us, adults, if we manage to satisfy their natural need and willingness to listen to fairy tales and stories or lose them among the aggression and noise of commercials, computer games,electronic gadgets and the media.
Nobody is born a reader. We can raise a reader only by reading to a child for sheer pleasure. If we read to children, they grow to be readers – people who live wiser, better and even longer. Let’s choose reading to children. Let’s choose a good and happy future for our children and our societies! Let’s read to our children every day – from their infancy to adolescence. Let’s create bonds and develop mental resources for our children. Let’s develop the resources of Europe!
Everyone interested in joining the “All of Europe Reads to Kids” Programme is kindly invited to
contact the Foundation “ABCXXI – All of Poland Reads to Kids”: Tel.: + 48 22 648 3891(92);
e-mail: and to visit our website
APPENDIXES
A. Benefits of daily reading to children
B. Results of the research on the effectiveness of the Programs”Reading Kindergartens” and “Reading Schools”
C. Guidelines of the Programs -”Reading Kindergartens” and “Reading Schools”
D. Examples of good practices
E. Recommended books
F. Our commercials and spots in English version - You Tube, Facebook
G. Letters of invitations for schools and kindergartens to join the programs
A. Benefits of daily reading aloud to children
As the research and experience of reading families,kindergartens and schools confirm, daily reading aloud to children for pleasure:
1)satisfies their essential emotional needs- for love, attention, stimulation etc.
2)creates strong bonds between reading adults and children
3)supports psychological development of a child
4)raises self-esteem
5)teaches language, builds up the vocabulary, enables fluency of speech
6)prepares for independent reading and writing
7)teaches independent thinking skills – logical, cause and effect and critical thinking
8)fosters imagination
9)improves concentration, brings calm
10)exercises memory
11)brings vast general knowledge
12)facilitates learning and helps to achieve success at school
13)teaches them values and recognizing the difference between good and evil, develops moral sensitivity
14)develops sense of humor
15)is a great pastime
16)protects them from getting addicted to television or computers
17)is a healthy escape from boredom, failure and problems
18)protects them from the dangers of mass culture
19)prevents antisocial behavior
20)creates the lifelong habit of reading and searching for knowledge
B. Results of the research on the effectiveness of the Programs”Reading Kindergartens” and “Reading Schools”. The report is available here -
C. Guidelines of the Programs ”Reading Kindergartens” and “Reading Schools”
Reading Programmes
Kindergartens and schools should provide children with the opportunity to be read to everyday. They should also educate parents on the role of reading to children for the purpose of their overall development. Our reading programmes support implemetning daily reading aloud to children.
“Reading Kindergartens” Programme
The “Reading Kindergartens” Programme is a cost-free and easy way to prepare children better for the demands of school and life. It is while in kindergarten that children are at the most crucial age for intensively learning about the world anddeveloping a multitude of skills. At this stage of life, children learn language very intensively - the main tool of obtainingknowledge, mastering thinking and social skills. In this regard, daily reading by an adult is a very effective way of buildingrich vocabulary, correct grammar and syntax without formal lessons, as well as improving a child’s speech.
Moreover, by means of daily reading aloud to a child, we raise a person equipped with a broad knowledge and imagination,able to reason and differentiate between good and evil. It is especially important in the contemporary world dominated by the electronic media which promote materialism and aggressive mass culture.
“Reading Schools” Programme
The core of the programme is teachers daily reading aloud daily to students at school. It should be done just for sheer pleasure, so children associate reading with joy and curiosity. It is the best way to encourage them to read by themselves and become true readers - persons who are keen on reading a lot, learn easily and face the challenges posed by life more effectively. We invite teachers of primary and secondary schools, along with technical and vocational schools to consider introducing at school the simple or mixed mode of the programme.
1. Simple mode
The teacher reads to students every day for 15-20 minutes during the classes, at a fixed time. It is recommended to read at the beginning of the first lesson – the perspective of time devoted to reading a fascinating book, without marks, criticism or any associated homework, and to talk later about important issues delivered by the story, may be an incentive to come on time and improves students’ attitudes towards school. Books should be truly interesting to students, so it is good to select them together.
IMPORTANT! Reading aloud before lessons, during breaks or after the lessons may actually discourage students to participate in the programme. If they are forced to come earlier to school or give up their free time in order to participate in the read aloud session, they will dislike it. To do this would be contrary to the primary purpose of the programme,
which is to associate reading with pleasure.
2. Mixed mode
The teacher starts the school day with ten minutes of reading aloud to the students and another ten minutes are spent on silent reading at the end of the day. Students, teachers and members of school staff read silently their own books. The mixed mode takes into account the important factor of setting an example by the adults who read books themselves. This variant might be considered for the higher grades of the primary schools and for the secondary schools, after at least one semester of reading aloud to students according to the simple mode.
Tips on how to perform daily reading at kindergartens and schools
20 minutes a day. Everyday!
Daily reading aloud by a teacher – always with enthusiasm and real pleasure – should be performed at fixed hours.
Reading corner
Create a special place with a shelf of books available for children, with the covers turned to the viewers toattract their attention and encourage them to browse and read on their own.
Time spent on reading should be adjusted to the children’s attention span.
Children without previous experience with reading can have difficulties concentrating for longer than a few minutes. Some of them will not be able to listen at all. We shouldn’t be discouraged! It can take a fewmonths for children to get used to reading and look forward to it.
Don’t force children to sit still.
Some children need to move. Allow them to walk or play silently while listening to reading.
Reading inspires other activities
Reading should be accompanied and enriched with conversations, as well as physical and musical activities, drawing and painting, preparing performances and decorations, etc.
Invite guests to read – parents, grandparents, scouts, seniors, representatives of interesting professions can be invited to read to the children and talk about their passions and work. It would make reading more worthwhile for kids and encourage parents to read at home.
Invite disabled persons who are specialists in interesting professions to read to the children – a blind individual, a person in a wheelchair, etc. Children should know in advance about their disability, discuss and prepare facilities to enable the guest an easier access to the room. Such meetings broaden the children’s knowledge and empathy to other people, teach them respect for the disabled persons and develop their moral sensitivity.
Invite foreign guests who can speak your language or provide translation. Ask them to wear their national attire and bring things characteristic of their country. They can read or tell their national fairy tales and talk about their homeland and culture.
Cooperate with the local library – take kids regularly to the library where the librarians can teach them how to use their resources, show new books and read to them.
Take children to bookshops, museums, art exhibitions and concerts.
Raising a reader requires building a child’s general knowledge, stimulating his/ her interests and developing sensitivity.
At the beginning of each year, it is a good idea to organize a meeting with the parents on the importance of reading to children at home, as well as limiting the time they spend watching television and using a computer.
It is equally imperative to monitor the programmes they watch and computer games they play. Tips on recommended books can be distributed. Parents should also be aware that they are role models – if they read books themselves and read to their children daily, they will raise a reader – a person who is educated, cultural, moral, happy, and will live a better and longer life.
Reading should always be a pleasure for a child and never a compulsion, punishment or boring experience.
D. Good practices developed in the course of the campaign “All of Poland Reads to Kids” -examples and tips on how to do it
Universal rules:
- We read always in the atmosphere of enthusiasm and delight over a child and a book
- It is good to choose one specific time during the day to create the habit of daily reading
- We read always having in mind a pleasure for a child, not a punishment or an obligation -the aim is to permanently associate reading with pleasure
- We choose books which are interesting for children and appropriate for their age and stage of development-we should take into account their reactions
- We protect the child's sensitivity -we should not instill anxieties and fears
- We adjust an amount of time spent on reading to the attention span of a child – we start from a couple of minutes
- We should not force children to sit still – they can play while listening
- We should not leave children with a book alone once they know letters because they will be discouraged to read. Reading is too difficult then and a child loses the main attraction of reading, namely the closeness of an important person
At home:
- reading from the day of birth or even earlier
- everyday
- arranging fixed time of reading, e.g. before going to bed during the day and in the evening
- acquainting a child with a book as a toy (with using books resistant to little children experiments)
- playing with a book as much as possible – talking about the pictures, finding letters and short words, inventing alternative endings etc.
- teaching respect to paper books: we don't turn the corners of the page over or put a book on the kitchen table
- continuing reading even when a child can read alone
- taking books for trips/journeys and everywhere you have to wait longer (e.g. at the doctor)
- we read also to teenagers (it's about bonding and conversation which is often induced by a book)
- a TV and a computer -only in the common space of the house, it is necessary to teach a child moderation and selected contact with the electronic media.
At kindergarten:
- arranging the fixed time of reading everyday
- parents and interesting guests can be invited to read-conversation with them is also important
- books should be always interesting, can be chosen/ brought by children
- after reading it is important to discuss the book, play a game connected with it, draw pictures
- it is worth installing bookshelves at the room
- not forcing children to sit still
- adjusting time spent on reading to the child's attention span
- adjusting titles to the level of child's perception
- remove a TV set from the room
At school:
- arranging the fixed time of reading everyday
- modes:20 minutes of reading by a teacher or 10 minutes of reading by a teacher in the morning and 10 minutes at the end of the school day everyone reads on their own, including teachers and a school staff
- books to read should not be included in the compulsory canon, should be always interesting, can be suggested by children
- reading is not graded, the conversation after reading is important, optionally- drawing for younger children
- it is worth installing bookshelves at the room.
Conducting the national campaign:
- creating symbols of the campaign – a logo, a poster
- preparing criteria to select good books and the lists of recommended books for the different age groups
preparing educational-promotional materials:posters, brochures, bookmarks, sticks etc.
creating a website of the campaign
running humorous media campaigns (TV and radio commercials, the Internet, outdoor campaign)
- finding the media partners
registering volunteers who organize local reading campaigns - introducing national events, announced on the website, by e-mail, in newsletter:
National Week of Reading to Children
Celebrating anniversaries -for example birthday of Winnie the Pooh, children's writers and poets (with games, presents prepared by the kids, birthday cake)
Summer with a Book, Winter with a Book
Literary competitions for the contemporary book for children and adolescents
competitions for the best organized reading campaign, the most effective collecting of book
Grand Finales – annual gala organized to express gratitude for volunteers and partners, creating prizes- statuettes, medals, diplomas of reading campaign
organizing press conferences before the major events
Programs and projects of the Foundation and its Coordinators and Leaders
- since you are three, book is always with thee- a mayor of the commune presents every three-year-old with a book during an event attended by parents, grandparents, priest, invited guests and local media (inspiration from Scandinavia)
- Generations-Creations – children from the orphanages and seniors from the Universities of the Third Age attend together concerts, exhibitions and plays, participate jointly in art workshops and at the end of the project perform a play together
- Reading Heals – reading to children in hospitals and hospices
- organizing reading corners in visiting room in prisons
- Book Butterflies Clubs - reading every week in a library to 2-5-year-olds
- The First Book of My Baby – present for every mother of a newborn child
- Educational activities of the Foundation:
- educational conferences in the whole country concerning emotional needs, the importance of reading, teaching values etc.
- workshops
- trainings for mothers staying in prison with their little children
- recording educational films:”How to Love a Child?”, “Educating by Reading”
- writing of two books: “Guiding a Child into the World of Values” and “Educating by Reading”
E. Recommended Books
Jim Trelease – The Read-Aloud Handbook; Hey, Listen to these Stories
Mem Fox – Reading Magic
Paul Kropp – Raising a Reader
Caroline J. Blakemore and Barbara Weston Ramirez – Baby Read-Aloud Basics
Bernice E. Cullinan – Read to Me. Raising Kids Who Love to Read
Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey – Gifted Hands
Irena Koźminska, Elżbieta Olszewska – Wychowanie przez czytanie(Educating by Reading), W dzieckiem w świat wartości (Guiding a Child into the World of Values)
Daniel Pennac – Like a Novel ( Comme un roman)
Sue Palmer – Toxic Childhood
Daniel Pink – A Whole New Mind; Drive
Eric Jensen – Teaching with the Brain in Mind
F. Our commercials and spots to watch and download (in Polish and English version)
Dad, Can You Read? Tato, czy ty umiesz czytać
Męskie rozmowy -Men's Conversations
Smoleń
Otowąż
Strychostrachy
Wspomnienia są blisko – Memories Are Close
Cała Polska czyta dzieciom -All of Poland Reads to Kids
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- Letters of invitations for kindergartens and schools to join the programs “Reading Kindergartens” and “Reading Schools”
Letter to kindergartens