Children from various Grahamstown schools and reading clubs were delighted to be read to for an hour by Nal’ibali staff members on Wednesday 5 March.
Children from various Grahamstown schools and reading clubs were delighted to be read to for an hour by Nal’ibali staff members on Wednesday 5 March.
This was part of an international project where parents and caregivers are encouraged to read a story aloud to promote literacy and reading for enjoyment.
South Africans were encouraged to sign a pledge to become involved in this day and read the story provided in Nal’ibali supplements.
The story chosen was a traditional isiZulu story, retold by South African children’s author, Wendy Hartmann, entitled How Stories Began.
Tsepiso Nzayo, the Grahamstown Nal’ibali Cluster Mentor and Story Sparker, Mandi Klaas, visited primary schools including C.M Vellem, N.V Cewu, Samuel Ntsiko and Archie Mbolekwa.
They also visited the reading clubs of Duna Library and the Extension 9 Library.
“To attract the kids' attention, we take their activities from the playground and combine them with literacy to make it more enjoyable,” said Nzayo.
“Once children develop a passion for reading from a young age, they won’t have a negative attitude toward their school books. Reading regularly can help them to develop a worldview so that they can have their own opinions that are not influenced by others,” said Nzayo.
Nzayo and other reading club leaders hope that this initiative will spark an interest in reading among the children and have encouraged them to attend reading clubs near their homes. “I see many new faces here and hopefully when I come back next week, there will be more people who attend the reading clubs,” said Nzayo.
This was the first time that Nal’ibali in Grahamstown extended their celebration of World Read Aloud Day to the growing reading clubs in Grahamstown.
