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September 25, 2018

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Home » Feature » Education

Read, and keep reading, for a great future

By Joshua Balli | 00:01 UTC+8 September 25, 2018 | Print Edition

Every year, our SCIS Hongqiao ECE campus joins in on International Literacy Day, a global celebration of literacy and its importance to individuals, communities and societies.

Started in 1967, the International Literacy Day is a UNESCO-declared worldwide celebration of reading aimed at highlighting the importance of literacy, the ability to read and write.

This year, the day was September 8 and the theme was “Reading for the Future.” Students were allowed to leave their school uniform at home and come in dressed as their future jobs! Our youngest readers were also encouraged to bring in their favorite books to schools, which they then shared with classmates.

The day is a good reminder to stop and ask ourselves: Is there any skill we take more for granted than the ability to read? Road signs would be confusing, you couldn’t order from a menu unless it had pictures, or even send a text message on your phone. Not being able to read goes well beyond not being able to enjoy a good book, it has much bigger implications that impact all aspects of daily life. That’s what I want our school community to think about when thinking about the Literacy Day.

So what can we do to celebrate this day? First of all, I think it’s a good chance for us to be thankful that we have the ability to read and all of the advantages the skill has brought us. From there, here are a few ideas for next Literacy Day, or any other day:

• Volunteer to help a child in Shanghai. The website (www.projects-abroad.net) has a lot of options for volunteering with kids.

• Start a book club. Why only keep a great book to yourself? Book clubs are great ways to share your ideas and learn from other people. This website (www.meetup.com/topics/bookclub/cn/shanghai/) has all kinds of book club options.

• Start making books and literature a regular part of your dinner conversations. If you have a very young child it can be as simple as “what did you read today?” If your child is older, more detail can be discussed. Talk about how life would be different without books or the ability to read.

• Most importantly, read to your child. If you are already doing it, great. If not, today is a great day to start. Try and make reading a regular part of you and your child’s day.

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