World Book Day: Many Parents Are Failing To Read To Their Children

Reading is the key to learning. Today, marks a very important day across the globe as far as literacy and its related issues are concerned.

World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day is a yearly event on April 23rd, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to promote reading, publishing and copyright.

The day is meant to be the perfect opportunity for parents, teachers and kids to join together in appreciation of the world of literature and the life-long pleasure of reading.

In the midst of increasingly digital world, there should still be a better opportunity to get back to books.

Again,the day is for school children of all ages, with the primary aim of encouraging children to explore books and the joy of reading.

The first ever World Book Day took place on the 23rd April,1995.

One of the most important things parents can do, beyond keeping kids healthy and safe, is to read with them. That means starting to read aloud to their unborn babies in the womb just after 25 weeks of pregnancy, when they are newborns and not even able to talk and then continuing well beyond the years that they can read by themselves.

This is because, early reading with children help them learn how to speak, interact, bond with parents and read early themselves.

In addition, reading with kids who already know how to read help them to feel very close to caretakers, understand the world around them and be empathetic citizens of the world.

Unfortunately, in our country based on our findings, many children begin formal education with no experience of being told stories at home.

This situation we can describe as a "national disaster" because all such children are at risk of being left behind at school and failing to develop the creative talents needed to lead happy and productive lives.

It is evident that, many of such children were made to watched TV instead of being read a bedtime story and in most cases parents complained about busy work schedules etc.

The children have spent a lot of time in front of TV and not enough time smuggled up with a good book.

The fact parents should understand is that, children who are read to at home on regular basis before they start school are most likely to succeed. It is a key predictor in terms of educational success.

Sharing stories with children boosts language, feeds the child's imagination and develops abstract thoughts etc.

Children who are told stories are the ones who first form abstract concepts across curriculum and simply put being read to makes the child brainy.

This is very evident in our schools. The best writers and those who do well in class are always those who are the avid readers.

Parents should get the message clear that, reading really matters. It may be perhaps parents have lost faith with this idea, but education is a way out of poverty.

It is now glaring showing that, we are creating generations that are failing to give their children the phonological start they need to become capable readers.

There are some children who have had very few stories read to them and it is like many parents don't know the importance of traditional fairy tales.

By listening to how you tell the story and the intonations in your voice, a child's imagination will be stimulated,supporting their creativity and enthusiasm for stories.

We will like to add that, when parents are reading to children, it is important they go at a pace which allows them to follow the story and digest the information.

Read Ghana Foundation, is committed to sweeping away the saying that "if you want to hide something from the black man then put it in a book"

Parents should not hesitate in calling on us to provide expertise concerning addressing reading difficulties of their children and ways they must adopt in promoting reading among them

Parents must always serve as reading "models" to their children because it is clear to us that, children don't read books because their parents don't read books.

Parents should always be reminded of the teaching of the Holy Bible as captured in Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old,will not depart from it.

A reading nation is a winning nation and Ghana our beloved nation must win through reading.

We wish the entire nation a happy World Book Day and may the day be full with the fun of reading.

Signed:
Mathias Tulasi
Executive Director/Founder
0200255295
Rose Letsu
Executive Secretary
0245028527
Ps.Bright McBrain Tulasi
Training Officer
0201448461