The gift of reading

Debbie Jacob -
Debbie Jacob -

THERE IS not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that covid19 is offering us the opportunity to turn education around and create academic success and a sense of fulfilment in our children like never before. This is the opportunity for everyone in this country to rally behind our nation’s children and learn what I discovered 11 years ago when 3canal’s Wendell Manwarren found out I was teaching CXC English language at YTC (now rebranded as the Youth Training and Rehabilitation Centre (YTRC) and asked, “What can I do to help you?”

I said, “I could use a class set of VS Naipaul’s Miguel Street.” Wendell made that wish come true, and I lost the fear I had of having only eight months to prepare eight teenagers for the CXC English language exam. I knew I could only be at YTC for four hours every weekend, but I realised that Naipaul and countless other authors could do a much better job of teaching these teenagers than I ever could. My presence in the classroom was important, but not as important as the time my students spent in pleasure reading.

All of my students wanted to read Naipaul after they discovered that a book could actually have humour in it. So I started there. Then I found out each of my student’s interests, brought books to suit those interests and told them, “Read for fun. It will naturally improve your reading speed, your comprehension and analytical skills. Then go back and reread those books. Look at structure, grammar and punctuation. Look at how sentences are constructed.”

Since the 1950s educators have been measuring the impact of reading on learning. Studies consistently show that students who read over the two-month-long July/August holiday return to school about four months ahead of their non-reading peers.

Google studies in the US, England, Canada and Australia and you will find many articles about the benefits of reading, like The Impact of Pleasure Reading on Academic Success, a study out of Sam Houston State University and Texas A&M in 2016. This study showed that “reading opened up worldwide avenues for knowledge that non-readers were unable to access.” It also points out what other studies have concluded: pleasure reading helps to build empathy skills, and it increases a general sense of happiness and well-being.

We know that students from lower-income families don’t have access to books like other children. This is why it is important for businesses to become involved in getting books to these students. I have been in schools where students can’t afford books, and I’ve seen how many students do want to read and how students can be turned on to reading.

It is important for teachers to know their students’ interests to encourage pleasure reading. Contact teachers in schools – or me if you need a starting point – and donate books for school libraries. Donate books that students can keep so that they can build their own home libraries.

Studies show that pleasure readers averaged higher grades as compared to non-readers in four subjects: English, history, math and science. Interesting enough, the Texas-based study showed that “pleasure readers experienced a marginal advantage in English and the sciences; however, pleasure readers experienced a significant advantage in mathematics and history.”

Parents can make a research project out of discovering books their children or teenagers would like to read. Those who have computers can google the best of Young Adult (YA) literature and the best of children’s literature. Look at what is coming out of Caribbean publishers like Peepal Tree Press, Ian Randle Publishers, Blue Banyan Books and UWI Press. Hodder Education is bringing back the Heinemann classics and some new books.

Again, do your research and look for Caribbean publishers online. Google best-selling lists from the New York Times and The Guardian in England.

If you are a parent who can afford books, buy a book to donate to a school where students can’t afford to buy books. Organise a book drive at work. Pass on your books – in good condition – to other students who are not fortunate enough to have the money to buy books for pleasure reading.

I know everyone is lamenting the challenges of online learning, but students need not fall behind in their academic development as long as they are reading. This is the best time to develop a habit of reading in our children. It is the best gift you can give a student.

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