Calling all parents, grandparents, nannies, teachers, SENCOs, librarians
– everyone who reads to children!
World Read Aloud Day
is an annual event celebrating the global literacy movement. Literacy is the foundation of school success, maximising children’s selfesteem and opening the doors to further education, job satisfaction and life-long learning.
Noël Janis-Norton
UK spokesperson for World Read Aloud Day, will give an
interactive talk exploring how to make the most of the reading-aloud experience:
•
how to keep children engaged – all ages, from toddlers to teens
• how to use reading aloud to expand children’s imaginations
•
how to ask the kinds of questions that get children thinking
•
how to use reading aloud to painlessly improve literacy skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing
•
how to use reading aloud to teach empathy, tolerance and resilience
•
and much more.
Venue: Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting Centre
211 Sumatra Road, West Hampstead, London NW6 1PF
Date: Wednesday 6 March 2013
Time: 7:30 to 9:30 pm
This event is free; please contact Noël to reserve your place:
admin@calmerparenting.co.uk
WORLD READ ALOUD DAY
Wednesday 6 March 2013
FAQs about World Read Aloud Day
1.
What is World Read Aloud Day?
World Read Aloud Day is a special day set aside to celebrate reading aloud: adults reading
to children and children reading to adults, also children reading to children and adults
reading to adults.
World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and
write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults
worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one
person to another, and
creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a
safe education and access to books and technology.
By raising our voices together on this day we show the world’s children that we support their
future: that they have the right to read, to write, and to share their words to change the
world.
2.
When and how did WRAD start?
Four years ago an extraordinary woman, Pam Allyn, who is passionate about reading,
started the first World Read Aloud Day. Since then millions of children have been motivated
to love reading.
So far World Read Aloud Day has:
Reached 35 countries and 40,000 participants on 3 March 2010
Reached 60 countries and 200,000 participants on 9 March 2011
Reached 65 countries and hundreds of thousands of participants on 7 March 2012
3.
Why is reading aloud so important?
Reading aloud to children, even after the age when children can read to themselves,
expands their imagination and knowledge, improves their literacy skills and their thinking
skills, teaches them about the world, and forges a strong bond of affection between reader
and listener.
Reading aloud exposes children to people, places and ideas that they would not otherwise
experience. Reading aloud whets their appetite and fires their curiosity.
Sadly, when children learn to read, parents no longer see reading aloud as part of their job
description. But at any age, reading aloud exposes children to more varied and more mature
vocabulary, sentence construction and ideas than they usually would come across in books
that they might choose to read to themselves.
4.
Why are you passionate about reading aloud?
Here’s an anecdote that says it all:
When my children were 10 and 8 I read “The Prince and The Pauper,” by Mark Twain, to
them. Several months later I took them to see the film. When I asked my son which he liked better, the book or the film, he said, “The book because the costumes were more colourful”. Books ignite the imagination!
5.
How can parents find out more about reading aloud?
Parents, and teachers as well, are invited to attend the World Read Aloud Day UK inaugural
event on Wednesday 6 March 2013, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at the Calmer, Easier, Happier
Parenting Centre in London.
Parents can also
read my new book, “Calmer, Easier, Happier Homework” (Hodder &
Stoughton, 2013). In it I give tips and strategies for making reading aloud enjoyable for
parent and child and educational at the same time.
Our website,
“www.worldreadalouddayuk.co.uk”, will soon be operational.
About Noël Janis-Norton
Noël Janis-Norton is the founder and director of Calmer, Easier, Happier
Parenting and Teaching, a not-for-profit consultancy and training
organisation which works with families and also with professionals who
work with families. She teaches techniques for guiding children and young
adults to become more cooperative, confident, motivated, self-reliant and
considerate.
Noël’s fifth book, ‘Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting’ was published in the UK by
Hodder and Stoughton in May 2012. It will be published in the US by Penguin in
the spring of 2013 and will soon be published in French, Russian, Chinese
and Italian.
Noël’s latest book, ‘Calmer, Easier, Happier Homework’ (Hodder &
Stoughton) is now available in paperback and e-book.