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A series of events aimed at empowering children and improving their literacy will be staged on Saturday as Bahrain celebrates its involvement in the first-ever International ‘Read To Me’ Day.
The idea originated in Australia and spread through supporters across to the UK, Malaysia, South Africa and, now Bahrain. It marks increased efforts to encourage children to engage in reading activities and ask to be read to.
“International ‘Read To Me’ Day (IRTMD) is all about empowering kids to ask, or better yet, demand, to be read to instead of waiting for someone to offer,” said Lisa Rial, an American special education teacher who moved to Bahrain three months ago and lives with her six-month old son, Elliott.
She explained: “The research is clear, literacy is key to positive life outcomes, and reading to children supports the development of literacy. As a parent it can be easy to forget to read to your kids, or feel like you are too busy, but it’s hard to turn down a child who is asking you to read them a story.
“If a child is actively picking up books to read on their own, then they already have a strong path to proficient literacy skills. IRTMD is to help kids find their own path to reading and writing proficiently and research shows that being read to helps create a strong foundation. Even infants benefit from being read to as it creates positive experiences with books!”
The idea of bringing IRTMD to Bahrain came from Jill Boggiss, a former employee of Bahrain Polytechnic, who had connected with the Child Writes Foundation based in Australia and decided to be an ambassador for the day in Bahrain. When it became apparent that she could not be present in Bahrain to co-ordinate events, she asked Lisa to step in.
Lisa said: “This is the first year of International Read To Me Day, but it is gaining momentum! We have four groups hosting physical events, but are pushing the social media campaign to get everyone involved. Jill started planning a few months ago, and I hopped on the bandwagon in January. If you include organisers and participants, we have involved around 50 people in Bahrain events and countless more on social media.”
The events themselves include an ‘IRTMD Story Time’ at the British Club library on Friday at 11am, open to children aged three-to-nine who are members of the club and their guests, a reading event to be held at Nadeen School for its pupils, and a public event open to all children aged three-to-five at Words BookstoreCafe in Budaiya. This will take place at 10am on Saturday and will feature a story-teller sharing stories written by Julia Donaldson, along with a ‘Gruffalo’ activity.
Participation is not exclusive to these events, however, and some have even taken the initiative a step further by co- ordinating their own activities on the day. One example is Hana Khadir, a Year 4 student at the British School of Bahrain, who is organising her own reading party at her compound on Saturday.
Proud mum Tanzeel said: “We’ll be going to Words in the morning, but after that we are having a get-together with a few of the parents and their children in the afternoon. Hana will be reading a book featuring Spot the dog, and she’s been really keen to get involved.
“She became interested in IRTMD after meeting Jill, who told her all about it. Hana and her five-year-old sister, Aaida, love being read to and Hana has also always loved reading stories to her younger sister.
“Reading to someone other than mum and dad has helped Hana become a more confident reader, and with Aaida, she’s always had a captive audience.
“Book Week was held at the BSB last week and all the Year 4 students got a chance to go to a Year 1 classroom and read to a younger child. She really enjoyed this experience and said it was nice to read to someone other than her own family, which encouraged her to get involved on Saturday even more.”
Hana, whose favourite book is Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, has progressed to reading full chapter books including Charlotte’s Web and further Dahl novellas. She often alternates reading pages with her mum, and says that sharing the activity of reading has helped her considerably.
She said: “I’ve always loved being read to since I was little because it felt like going on an adventure as every book would be different and new. It also allowed me to spend more time with my family and do something together with them. Reading relaxes me and allows me to use my imagination much more than a TV or an iPad would. I’ve even started writing my own stories and poems in my spare time because I love it so much.”
* If readers are interested in getting involved with IRTMD, they can spread the message via personal networks or social media. People are encouraged to snap a photo of themselves reading to a child and use the hashtag #readtomeday to share it with friends on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
