Apart from the Book Village App, we also provide our own digital library with thousands of children’s and young adult books for the learners and teachers to enjoy.
Reading for enjoyment has been described as a form of play. It is a creative activity that allows us to experience other worlds, roles and feelings, in our imaginations. The OECD in 2002 found that reading for pleasure in childhood is a better predictor of future educational success than a family’s socio-economic status.
From our experience many young South African children do not have any books at home, and so libraries are essential for them to access books to read outside of the classroom. To encourage reading for enjoyment at any time, we have provided a digital library with thousands of children’s and young adult books. The children love the freedom of being able to choose their own books, and a trip to the library is the highlight of the school week. All the children at Cosmo City Primary are members of the digital library and can borrow and read books all year round if they have a device at home. We’ve found that whilst most children do not have their own tablets, smart phones or laptops, almost all the children’s parents have a smart phone, and often let their little ones read stories on them at home.
We also want to encourage children to enjoy reading and listening to stories in their home language, and so we have added collections of the excellent Nal’ibali stories to the digital library. We couldn’t agree more with the Nal’ibali idea that “Children who read and hear engaging stories in languages they understand are well equipped and motivated to learn to read and write. They are also more likely to make a meaningful contribution to society.”
Frequently reading for pleasure and fun results in children achieving higher PIRLS literacy scores. (PIRLS 2006), but apart from that – “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr Seuss
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