School of Thought
Books, Books & More Books!
with Rosemary and Kim
As we have mentioned in previous articles, reading comprehension is directly linked to academic success and thus increasing our students’ ability to comprehend text is a main goal of ours. In addition, as listed in Canada’s National Reading Campaign:
Reading is a lifelong source of pleasure for individuals.
Reading lays the foundation for future learning. It increases our self-worth. It gives us the capacity for critical thinking.
Reading inspires. It is a trigger for the imagination.
The volume and variety of texts our children read greatly impacts their levels of comprehension. So how can we go about accessing many varied, engaging texts for our children to enjoy at home? A discussion held with parent representatives at a recent Governing Council Education Committee meeting generated a number of ideas for how families can access texts. These ideas are shared below and complement Tirkandi’s (our LNPS library) collection of well over 20 000 books.
As advertised on our Facebook page, BIG W has launched a Free books for kids initiative with one new book released every Thursday in store. BIG W is committed to making books more accessible to all Australian families by giving every child the chance to take home a classic storybook for free when they visit their local BIG W store. No purchase is required and a new title will be given away each week for 12 weeks as of February 21st. Publishers of the 12-book titles, Scholastic Australia, also revealed in its 2015 Australian Kids & Family Reading Report that 86% of Aussie kids enjoy being read books aloud at home, with the main reason being because it is a special time shared with parents.
The West Torrens Council promotes the free Little Libraries and our school is currently in consultation with the Council to install a Little Library on site to encourage the opportunity to exchange books within the community. In the meantime, click on the link above to see where you can find existing Little Libraries within our council area.
Local libraries such as the Hamra Centre offer huge collections for children to choose from and are an inviting place to spend time. Membership is free and in addition to the many possibilities that can be borrowed in hard copy, families can use their library membership to access magazine subscriptions online (i.e. via an iPad). There are many topics available such as: sports, animals, gaming, travel and music.
Council library membership also allows you to access the Mobile Library van. It makes 38 stops across West Torrens on a two week schedule which may be easier for some than getting to the main library itself.
Second hand book shops are a treasure trove for adding to your growing home collection of books. Anne Bayetto, lecturer at Flinders University and researcher with a focus on reading, tells about travelling the world with an additional suitcase to pick up books from second hand book shops and shops with preloved items, to support her passion for inexpensively building book collections.
Local bookshops are another possibility for building a collection or purchasing a birthday gift for a child. In addition to Big W, Kmart and Target which all have small book sections, not too far away are: Dymocks (city, Glenelg and Hyde Park), QBD (West Lakes, Marion), Pegi Williams (Walkerville), Dillons (Norwood), Imprints (city), Booked (North Adelaide) and a new store, Harry Hartog (Burnside Village).
When you find a successful source for building your collection of books, share your excitement with your friends and community members to strengthen the opportunities for us all to experience the joy of reading.