The joy of reading

As I write this, a lightful back-to-school surprise for Quezon City’s first graders – and their teachers – is making its way to their classrooms. These are the Read to Learn Kits that the local government is turning over to 50 public schools after a successful partnership with the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) foundation.

These learning kits carry entertaining and engaging reading materials for very young students, and to help teachers make the most out of these new tools, lesson plans and training materials are also included.

With schools opening again this month, it’s a much-needed reminder of the academic values we should put forward for our children, in which there are only few higher than the affinity for reading.

Instilling such a behavior into young minds is undeniably critical, shaping their school life into a learning experience full of potential for them to discover. According to studies, including those by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the impact of reading on early cognitive development is undeniable and stands as a pillar for future learning – nurturing imagination, creativity and communication, as well as their analytical and critical thinking.

For our teachers and instructors, the Read to Learn Kits in the hands of young learners becomes another avenue for educating. With carefully curated storybooks and other educational materials, educators are also empowered to introduce reading as a form of leisure activity and, hopefully, develop in children the hobby of reading at an early age – before they have a chance to get hooked on their smartphone or tablet apps.

As a parent myself, I have to admit that I prefer my children spend as much time on books as they do on their gadgets. Attention spans tend to run short in the face of the internet’s constant barrage of content – on the bright side, developing a reading habit trains focus as well.

And, thankfully, communities such as Quezon City have not forgotten that it takes a village indeed. The Memorandum of Agreement signed by Mayor Joy Belmonte and RMHC proves that these are values that need our attention, and it’s worth forming partnerships over.

This reminds me of another heartwarming collaboration the QC LGU formed just a few weeks ago with a different foundation, where the campaign sought to develop learning materials and other educational supplies for the city’s students with reading and learning disabilities.

At the core of these initiatives is a touching sentiment, and it’s one that we wish to see more of in the development of our education sector: acknowledge that inside every child is a yearning to discover the world around them, and act in every opportunity to equip them with the tools they need.

The future of early elementary education, I hope, is that we aim not just to facilitate literacy, but foster love for language and learning.