A favourite childhood book can stay with you for a lifetime. Most of us have memories of a story that we couldn’t get enough of from when we were children, and World Book Day is all about celebrating stories and the love of reading.
World Book Day takes place each year on 23 April. Dedicated to promoting reading, it is the perfect chance for centres to create a theme around books and literacy in centres.
Literacy is an important part of early childhood education and World Book Day is another avenue for us to support children’s early literacy skills. Encouraging children to get reading, writing, listening and speaking while taking a play-based approach can help children in countless other ways.
Developmental benefits of early literacy
When early childhood education supports children in developing their early literacy skills, there are many other benefits for their development, such as:
- Brain development
- Emotional awareness
- Self-expression
- Empathy
- Multi-sensory development
- Reasoning ability
- Vocabulary building
- Improved speech
- Enhances concentration
- Improved memory
- A foundation for future academic success
Providing a book-positive environment
There are many ways we can incorporate books, reading and story-telling into early childhood education more. Here are a few to inspire you:
Your own library or reading space
Depending on the space available, we believe all centres should at least have a reading space or corner. This should be set up for the optimal enjoyment of books! Comfortable seats or cushions and plenty of book options to choose from. A mini library could be wonderful if space allows.
Library excursions
A visit to the local library is a must for children. Not only are there thousands of books to browse and select from for free, there are also many fun activities run through community libraries that could work for small groups. Definitely worth investigating and planning a local library trip.
Book bags
Send a book bag home with a different child each day or week and ask children to bring in one of their favourite books to share. Children love the novelty and get to consider which story they want to have read to their peers in a different setting than usual. A simple cotton tote bag or environmental shopping bag will do the trick!
Let this World Book Day inspire you to consider the many benefits of reading in early childhood education!
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