FILE
Students are celebrating “Read Across America Week” at the outset of March, coinciding with the birthday of children’s author Dr. Seuss.
Our elementary schools are celebrating with interactive events that promote reading and overall literacy with our young people, and there can be no important endeavor in their formative years.
This goes for at home as well as in the schoolhouse.
Parents need to encourage their children to read at home each day.
What parent has not had the joy of reading a Dr. Seuss book to their child? There is a special enjoyment to getting tongue-tied as one vaults into meter and rhyme to enhance the child’s enjoyment, whether it’s Sneeches on the beachers, a fox in sox, a cat in the hat or that favorite of every high school graduate’s favorite aunt, “Oh, the Place You’ll Go.”
But cliche or not, that book sends the right message. There are unlimited places for our young people to go if they commit to reading at a young age. This includes learning about our history, culture and where we all came from.
In addition to our schools, we praise our Volunteers for Literacy (VFL) program that cultivates these young minds with their educational programming.
The VFL has helped hundreds of kids find the joy of reading, and there are 17 small libraries across Habersham County where kids can take a book or leave one. There is one right in front of The Northeast Georgian’s building here in Cornelia. Check out www.vflhabersham.com for the other locations.
• Some ways to promote literacy at home include:
• Set aside time each day for reading.
• Keep books visible around the house.
• Make regular visits to the library.
• Read the book version of your child’s favorite movie.
• Organize a children’s book club with friends in the neighborhood.
There is nothing like sharing a good story with a child, and it is something anyone who works with young people should aspire to do as much as possible.
Reading opens doors to possibilities we have never considered on our own, and a value cannot be placed on that experience.
Keep reading to kids and celebrating those who want their minds to grow and expand their understanding of our world.