Drop in younger children visiting libraries is worrying, says Chris Riddell

Drop in younger children visiting libraries is worrying, says Chris Riddell

A The children’s laureate, Chris Riddell, has said a drop in the number of younger children visiting libraries is of great concern. The findings, part of a Department for Culture, Media and Sport report into children’s activities, reveal a 26% decline in the number of five to 10-year-olds who had used a library in the past seven days.

B In 2010, 18.7% children aged five to 10 had done so, compared to 13.8% in 2014. Within that age group, the number who had made a trip to their library at some point over the past 12 months had decreased from 76.4% in 2010 to 67.7% in 2014.

C Riddell, an author and illustrator, said: “A drop in younger children visiting libraries is of great concern. As children’s laureate, I am passionate about the role of libraries, both in schools and in the wider community. They are unique places where children can begin their journey as readers, as well as being creative hubs. “Some of my favourite events have taken place in libraries, and over the next two years I intend to visit as many libraries as I can.” He added that he supported the Reading Agency’s summer reading challenge, which encourages children aged four to 11 to read six books over the course of the school holidays. In these austere times, libraries have never been more important as a way for every child to access books and reading.

D But Diana Gerald, chief executive of reading charity Book Trust, said the figures were “amazing”. She said: “Over recent years children’s use of libraries has been consistently high, and even with all the other modern attractions libraries are still visited by 70% of under-15s – that’s quite amazing. Book Trust research shows that reading helps close the poverty gap and is actually more important for a child’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status. Well-resourced libraries remain a gateway to equality of educational achievement and an affordable source of great pleasure. All children should have easy access to a library.”

E Cressida Cowell, author of the bestselling How To Train Your Dragon series, which has been adapted for film, said reading was “the most important thing you can do for improving literacy and communication skills”. She added: “Libraries are particularly good for children experimenting and trying books that they might not have expected to like. A great librarian can truly make a difference in thousands of children’s lives.”

Adjusted to (1)

hub – centrum, středisko

austere – prostý, jednoduchý

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Gerald’s satisfaction and importance of reading

2 Comparison of years 2010 and 2014

3 Cowell stresses importance of a good librarian

4 Less children have attended libraries in summer

5 Riddell thinks libraries are important social hubs

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is Riddell worried about?

2 What are differences between figures in 2010 and 2014?

3 Why are libraries important for children according to Riddell?

4 How are reading and development of a child connected?

5 How does reading affect poverty?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 drop in younger children visiting libraries

2 begin their journey as readers

3 summer reading challenge

4 reading helps close the poverty gap

5 libraries remain a gateway to equality of educational achievement

4) Answer the following questions.

What is literacy? How does it influence our life? How can we support children’s literacy? How do libraries influence our lives? What free time activities do libraries offer?

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Source:

(1)

Drop in younger children visiting libraries is worrying, says Chris Riddell. The Guardian [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/24/drop-younger-children-visiting-libraries-chris-riddell

Getting parents and children off to a strong start in reading

Getting parents and children off to a strong start in reading

A In recent years literacy experts have expressed concern that children are not reading enough for pleasure and that many youngsters are never read to by their parents. They claim that children who are left to fill their own time, watching TV and playing computer games may be at a serious disadvantage later on in life. In an effort to offset this alarming trend a Czech NGO is organizing an annual week of events to provide inspiration for a habit that may turnaround a child’s life.

B Once a year it is Czechs Read to their Kids Week – a series of reading events in hundreds of locations around the country. The tradition was established in 2007 by Eva Katrušáková and has gained increasing popularity. I asked Eva how the idea emerged. “I would say that everyone has been looking for a way to bring children back to reading books. Originally, the idea came from abroad from Jim Trelease. He has been promoting the idea of reading aloud to children for many years in the United. We all know that reading is good, but maybe some of us don’t realize how important it is to a child’s development. It positively effects a child’s emotional development, improves their language skills and thinking abilities, it develops their memory and imagination, improves their attention span, deepens their knowledge. “

C Do you feel that parents have stopped reading aloud to their children? “Well, maybe stopped is not the right word, but many of them think that if they put their child if front of the TV or give them a computer game it is the same as reading aloud to them – and that is simply not true.“

D How have children responded to all this? “Oh, the kids are really great. We bring them songs, short readings aloud, theatre plays and what is uppermost in our minds is that reading should always be a pleasure for a child, for any child, and never a compulsory thing, a punishment or a boring experience. So we try to keep them happy when we prepare programmes for them. And when Mr. Jiří Labus or Mr. Zdeněk Svěrák read for the kids they simply love it.”

E Are parents receptive to the message that you are spreading? Have you seen signs of positive change since 2007? “It is a strong annual reminder which is good because parents sometimes forget about the need to read to their children. We don’t have any numbers yet, but we can see how many people, institutions, schools, kindergartens, mother centres and literary cafes are involved in the project – so we know that it is worth doing.“

Adjusted to (1)

offset – vyrovnat, vykompenzovat

span – doba, rozpětí

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Children sit at the TV instead

2 Children aren’t fond of reading, which should be changed

3 Many people are involved in the project

4 The idea of reading aloud to children comes from the US

5 Children are pleased because it isn’t compulsory

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What do literacy experts say? Why are they worried?

2 What is Czechs Read to their Kids? Where does this idea come from?

3 Why do parents read less to their children?

4 What are children’s reactions? Why?

5 How has the approach towards reading changed since 2007?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 literacy experts

2 reading enough for pleasure

3 reading aloud

4 it develops their memory and imagination

5 literary cafes

4) Answer the following questions.

Why should we read to children? How often? What happens when we read to them? What is Celé Česko čte dětem project? How does our school participate? Where?

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Tips, sources of information:

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Source:

(1)https://goo.gl/zj7NEfLAZAROVÁ, Daniela. Getting parents and children off to a strong start in reading. Český rozhlas [online]. 2015 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://radio.cz/en/section/panorama/getting-parents-and-children-off-to-a-strong-start-in-reading--1

Why are Steiner schools so controversial?

A Last week, Newsnight ran a report on the 30 or so private Steiner schools that showed how different they are from anything else. The schools are known for being playful and hippyish. But we revealed the contents of two memos from the Department for Education (DfE) on complaints about bullying in the private Steiner schools – also known as Waldorf schools or Steiner Waldorf schools – and concerns about racism. The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) responded by saying “Our schools do not tolerate racism” and “bullying is not tolerated by our schools and all our schools have strong anti-bullying policies”.

B Some people also tweeted me to praise their Steiner education. As our report made clear, the issues are not ubiquitous in Steiner schools. None of the reports concerns any of the three, open state Steiner schools. But Steiner schools could be susceptible to these problems. That is because of the particular views of Rudolf Steiner, the intellectual father of Steiner schools. The ideas are based in a belief in reincarnation. Or, for example, the Steiner curriculum’s focused on a late start to learning is driven by the pace at which souls incarnate.

C Steiner himself believed illnesses in our current lives could be explained by problems in the previous ones. And in overcoming illnesses with a root in a previous life, individuals could gain “reinforced power” and improve their “karma”. That may help explain the Steiner school attitude to vaccination. The Health Protection Agency used to note that Steiner schools ought to be considered “unvaccinated populations” for measles.

D The DfE memos report a complaint that a teacher allowed violence among children for karmic reasons. Steiner was, by any modern definition, a racist. He believed each race had a geographical location where they should live – black people in Europe were “a nuisance”. There was also a hierarchy in races; a soul with good karma could hope to be reincarnated into a race which is higher up in the hierarchy. But some of the ideas have polluted some Steiner schools. The SWSF was “horrified” by our report on a training day at a private Steiner school, which had been triggered by a real issue around racism. Four white teachers, asked to tick a box giving their ethnicity, ticked every box.

E I am not clear why Steiner Schools are not considered faith schools. It is not clear whether all Steiner schools are more focused on improving children’s life chances for this life or the next. Lots of Steiner schools, and the SWSF, believe they have got past these problems with Steiner’s work. They have taken something from his ideas without the problematic parts.

Adjusted to (1)

ubiquitous – všudypřítomný

nuisance – nepřístojnost

trigger – spustit

tick – odškrtnout

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Steiner school students aren’t vaccinated

2 Reports on Steiner Waldorf schools

3 Problems with racism

4 Steiner school affirm they have overcome the problems

5 The ideas of Waldorf schools are based in a belief in reincarnation

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What are Steiner schools like?

2 Who was Rudolf Steiner? What were his opinions?

3 What were his controversial ideas?

4 How is the idea of reincarnation included in curriculum?

5 How do Steiner Waldorf Schools describe themselves?

3) Explain the following words and phrases.

1 strong anti-bullying policies

2 praise their Steiner education

3 measles

4 faith schools

5 focused on improving children’s life chances

4) Answer the following questions.

What is Waldorf school? What is the program like? What are other types of alternative education? What are their positives and negatives? What is the difference between alternative and usual type of education?

Video:

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Tips, sources of information:

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Source:

(1)

COOK, Chris. Why are Steiner schools so controversial? BBC News [online]. 2014 [cit. 2015-09-21]. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/education-28646118