Mdelwa Hlongwane P.S hosts World Read Aloud Day
Reading aloud builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helps children recognise what reading for pleasure and comprehension are all about.
In commemoration of the World Read Aloud Day, the Nhlanhla Tshabalala Foundation (NTF) in partnership with Pimville Library visited Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School on Wednesday February 07.
The aim of the visit was to promote and instil a culture of reading amongst learners in foundation phase, especially in township communities.
World Read Aloud Day is designed to promote literacy and the awareness that everyone has an inherent right to learn to read.
This is a day dedicated not just to reading, but to the art and practice of reading aloud.
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Tshabalala, Chairperson of the NTF said, “The importance of this day is to encourage and promote literacy especially in the foundation phase. Because that is where children begin to learn about the world around them.”
Three learners were selected to read aloud in the assembly as part of the reading exercise and they were given each a goodie bag for their excellent work in reading. Literacy broadens the mind of the children; it allows them to imagine a world full of possibilities.
Reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers can do with children.
“Reading here in township schools is not valued as it is supposed to be.
“So, we as teachers we always value the exercise of reading aloud especially in foundation phase and we emphasise reading every day,” said Grade seven English teacher, Cora Mamatela.
Reading aloud builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helps children recognise what reading for pleasure and comprehension are all about.
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Pimville award winning DJ, Buhle Nhlapo who was also invited emphasised the role of parents in the introduction of literacy at home because that is where the foundation has to be built. Educators can only add on to what has already been planted.
“The reading culture should start at home. As a parent myself I teach my children every day to leave their phones and spend at least an hour reading a book and in that way reading becomes a part of their lives,” said Nhlapo.
Reading aloud reveals the rewards of reading and develops the listener’s interest in books and desire to be a reader.
