Raising Readers

Reading at Home | “Reading Daily”

Our literacy focus this year is reading. While many of us read on different platforms and enjoy the different formats that reading is presented to us in, it’s important that we share our reading journeys with our learners at home too.

This fortnight’s focus is Reading Daily.

Sometimes it’s really difficult to find the time to just sit down and read a book. This can be due to work, stress, commitments, or being unable to find a good read. Other times, you might think that a couple of minutes is not worth it. The reality is, that 15 minutes of daily reading increases your physical and mental health. This is because when you start reading, your heartbeat slows to a resting rate, your muscles ease up and your state of mind shifts to focus on the reading. Additionally, just 15 minutes of reading daily maintains your brain’s agility and keeps you sharp!

The daily 15 minutes of reading is especially important for our learners, as it teaches them to be resilient, it trains them to be problem-solvers and it also increases the number of complex connections in their growing brains. Plus, by reading for 15 minutes daily, the learner will be exposed to approximately 1.8 million words in one year, which will allow them to build a strong and more sophisticated vocabulary, whilst also provide them with the tools to succeed.

Find the time to read together, individually, and to also share your reading journeys with each other.

Keep Reading,

Ecehan B. Gulbayrak

ecehan.Gulbayrak@education.vic.gov.au

PS: I am currently reading - “The White Castle,” by Orhan Pamuk. The book follows a young, Italian scholar, who is captured by pirates and put up for sale in the slave market. The book is very much about the difficulties of self-examination and the idea of the individual, especially in the context of the chasms of culture. It’s a short, but dense read.