Why reading is so important for children
Reading is one of the indicators of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income.
Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, World Book Day is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. You can follow World Book Day they have lots of resources and ideas for use at school and home:
For World Book Day this year we have been thinking about the benefits of books. Books open our imagination and allow us to travel to another world as well as providing education, which in turn provides children with choices on how they wish to live their lives.
During Covid-19 access to books have been more important than ever to keep everyone learning and to keep some of us company. Although some people have reported they have found it difficult to read a book during this time.
Ideas for World Book Day
We have pulled together a few ideas for World Book Day to help you explore and ramp up your creativity and imagination.
• Try a book in another language or dialect. World Book Day have their first Welsh language title in this year’s £1 book offerings.
• Check out out your local library as they often have on-line events and you can reserve books on-line until the time comes when you can visit and choose your own books in person.
• Have a look at our ‘Home Learning Resources 2021’ resource pack on our website. On page 18 you will find out how to access lots of free books online. https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/resources
• Get involved with the Open Library, the aim is to create a page for every book ever published to create an online library, like Wikipedia for books.
Book Clubs
Many people report that belonging to a book club really motivates them to read regularly as well as being able to connect with people all over the world. Here’s a few that we have been exploring.
• Read quietly, with others online in over 100 cities. Follow the Facebook group for author events and you might even be encouraged to start your own local book club. It’s free too.
• A group for readers of translated fiction. Fortnightly on-line calls with opportunities to meet the authors and translators. They only publish books that can be translated in 200 pages and takes the same time to read as it takes to watch a film.
• Members can choose 2 books each month which are based on the theme of strong women. On-line discussion is available each month.
• Sign up to receive a mystery book through the post each month on a topical theme, which members choose through voting. There are on-line discussions groups and monthly meet-ups.
• A book club for non-fiction books that meets twice monthly and offers meet-ups with authors and community connections.
• You can support the provision of books globally by signing up to the reverse book club.
Independent Book Shops
We have also been enjoying browsing some independent book shops. Did you know that some of the online book conglomerates use algorithms to suggest books and there are loads of wonderful books out there but they might never get suggested in the mainstream. We are missing out on some wonderful books as we are discouraged from exploring by the “suggested for you” algorithms.
Here is our pick of independent book shops that you might like to try:
Useful Resources
You can find great resources on these websites:
Thank you, we hope you have enjoyed this post and have found some useful idea and resources to further your enjoyment of books.
Steve Sinnott Foundation • March 2, 2021
This week while out and about in Hertfordshire and we visited the British Schools Museum. We discovered the first school opened by Joseph Lancaster, was known as the ‘Poor Childs Friend”, was in 1810. It was his lifelong mission that all children regardless of their circumstances, should benefit from an education. Apparently, Joseph heard a small girl say, “Oh that I could read!” and this inspired him to create a simple education system that eventually would benefit children across the world. Joseph was the tenth son of a poor man himself from South London. His aim was to offer free education for everyone. However, it would be 93 years before the U.K. government finally made education free for all. There are still many countries today where education is still not free to access and it is certainly not compulsory for primary and secondary age pupils. Joseph’s mission really resonates with that of the Foundation, to support access to education for all. We enjoyed our visit and appreciated the tour given by two of the Museum’s volunteers, Angela and Clare. They described some of the challenges faced in the early years of formal education and shared some of the rules that teachers and students had to abide by with us.
Sparks Bristol is a collaborative community project initially envisioned by The Global Goals Centre, (GGC) more of which below. A few years ago, GGC took over an empty Marks and Spencer store and that’s how Sparks was born. Sparks is a department store with a difference, co-created by Global Goals Centre and Artspace Lifespace. On the ground floor is a huge range of shops, installations, events and more. Upstairs is a hub for local artists, it offers affordable studios as well as rehearsal and performance space. The Global Goals Centre is a Bristol-based educational charity inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs). GGC believe the SDG’s or Global Goals as they are sometimes known, can be reached, with imaginative solutions and widespread education and engagement. They work with partners to promote creative solutions and deliver ground breaking projects that work towards these ambitious goals. The Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the Global Goals Centre with seed funding when it first started over 5 years ago. This month we went to visit them to see how they are getting on and we were taken aback by the volume of work they have achieved since they started. It is amazing to see how though working together with other local community groups it has grown into the vibrant centre it is today. All of the creative projects they host are linked to the SDGs. They cover topics that tackle poverty, education, climate change, fashion recycling and upcycling, to name a few.
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.
