Some students need little encouragement to share their opinions or ideas during reading sessions. Others, however, need extra support to feel confident enough to read and participate. Here are some ideas of “intentional and instructional prompts” that adults can use to encourage children to talk (Towson et al. 2017). These prompts are taken from Weadman, Serry and Snow (2023).  For some students, even supportive prompts can be challenging. Some students might have limited English, learning needs or be extra shy. Here are a few suggestions to support your interactions with them, from our ..read more

Last year while working with Book Village, I also had the opportunity to complete my postgraduate studies, with one of my papers, ‘‘Children’s literature in Education,’ looking specifically at the impact of picturebooks on young readers. This paper was interesting in so many ways, but I particularly enjoyed how much it linked with our work at Book Village.  Roche (2015) explains that Picturebooks “are immense sources of pleasure as well as a means of sparking off an interest in reading for children who are just beginning that process.” There are so many skills that can be taught through p ..read more

Gibbs (2006) states that “Teaching and Learning are about meaningful connections.” One of the most special parts of Book Village is that we get to see the impact on our students of having adults that are completely invested in their learning and success. Most of our students come from classrooms that are oversized and under-resourced. For many of our learners, their interactions in Book Village are their only chance for one-on-one learning. The change in our students ,from when they start on our programme to when they have been reading with us for a while, is immense. Our learners become en ..read more

Heritage Day is a call for celebration. South Africa is a culturally-rich country with 11 official languages and it consists of a diverse population of 59 million people. One way to introduce children to the importance of this day is to allow them to have a whole day in their school calendar dedicated to exploring the different facets of the topic of ‘culture’. The day can begin by allowing learners to dress up in their traditional wear. This is a lovely way to spark conversation about different garments. Afterwards, you could dive into a pre-made lesson plan. This can include presenting a sli ..read more

It’s probably true that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover – but we couldn’t resist choosing these from the recent SORA Sweet Reads 2022 collection – based entirely on looks! ‘The Sky is Mine’ by Amy Beashel – well this book had to be read! It has more prize stickers on its bright yellow cover than my favourite bottle of wine does.  I was gripped from the first page by this shocking, compelling page-turner that addresses rape culture in teens and domestic abuse in families.  The writing is excellent, and despite the subject matter, is often humorous. Izzy, the main character, is ..read more

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 ..read more

In the words of Nelson Mandela “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom”. Youth Day is celebrated annually on the 16th of June as a testament to the power of the youth to advocate against oppression. On the 16th of June 1976, thousands of students protested in the streets of Soweto against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of education. Moreover, the protests were also about the Bantu Education system as a whole. The idea behind Bantu education was to create a population that was trained to perform manual labour and be ..read more

The first time a child picks up a book, they’re unlikely to know how to open it properly, let alone be a fluent reader. This is because like with any skill, you must start with baby steps before you can start walking. But unlike many skills such as walking or speaking, the ability to read is not acquired naturally without instruction.  Studies suggest that without quality instruction, a child who reads poorly in the early grades will continue to read poorly in the upper grades, and will require more and more instructional intervention in order to “catch up” (Juel, 1988). We have spent the ..read more

Reading allows us to transport ourselves into different worlds. New words can be learnt, different emotions can be felt; your imagination can run wild. But why is it particularly important for you to be reading to your children? The answer lies within the developmental process of a child. Assisted cognitive development is the first reason why reading to your child is important. Cognitive development refers to “how we perceive and think about our world in reference to our intelligence, reasoning, language development, and information processing” (https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/why-is-r ..read more

According to a UNESCO report published in September 2020, ”Education, the Internet and broadband connectivity have a tremendous potential to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, today 3.6 billion people still have no access to the Internet and about 258 million children are out of school.” (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374309/PDF/374309eng.pdf.multi) If you live in Gauteng, or probably anywhere in South Africa, you don’t have to look very hard until you find school children who hav ..read more