Multilingual Story Supplements

Is reading a fun part of your children’s daily lives? Reading for enjoyment helps children grow into confident, capable individuals. When you make time to read and share stories with your children, you build a strong foundation for their future. Even just a few minutes each day can open up a world of imagination, connection and learning.

Does your family read regularly? Are stories part of your family’s daily life? In all parts of the world, parents and parental figures are seen as the primary caregivers and teachers of
their children. They protect their children and work hard to ensure their positive development. Regularly sharing books and stories with children is one of the most important ways to boost children’s positive development.

Have you noticed how young children seem to learn without very much effort? Think about what six-year-olds know and can do with language before they even get to school!

We know that reading lots of books helps to make children better readers. If we want to get our children reading and then keep them reading, it’s really helpful to understand what motivates them to read. Here is what some children aged 9 and 10 had to say about books and reading.

The young people of South Africa desperately need books. They need picture books, chapter books, and books to read for fun or for research. Most of these books should be in their mother tongue. Importantly, children need to be shown how to connect with books.

Sharing stories is as natural to human beings as eating and sleeping! Some of the stories we tell today have been passed down from generation to generation, while others are new ones that we create ourselves.

Each year, Nal’ibali produces a story especially for World Read Aloud Day in all 12 official languages. We then call on adults throughout the country to join us in reading the story out loud to the children in their lives on World Read Aloud Day.

The school year is almost over and soon it will be that time of year when most of us are able to spend more time than usual with family and friends. It’s time for that long-awaited end-of-year break. That time of year when we can all slow down a bit, relax, and spend time doing more of the things we enjoy.

Schools are important places for literacy teaching, but they also have another important role to fulfil – to help inspire children to be lifelong readers! When a school believes in the power of reading for enjoyment, and it allows its children to experience this first-hand, it sparks in them an interest in reading and writing.

Each year on International Literacy Day, 8 September, the world celebrates the role that reading and writing play in our lives. We also remember that there are many people around the world who can’t complete simple but important tasks, like filling in a form or reading the instructions on a medicine bottle, and who are never able to get lost in a novel. There are many reasons why people don’t learn to read and write, but this happens mainly because they don’t have what they need to learn − good resources and the right kind of help and inspiration!