April 2-8, 2003

In the long run the only thing of lasting value you can give your child
is your time and memories of time shared together.

Event organized under auspices of
František Tóth
State Secretary, Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic

and in cooperation with
member libraries of the Slovak Library Association
Slovak Board of PTAs and PTAs around schools
Slovak Pedagogical Library

Many of you may remember last year's Read Aloud Week, or maybe you have taken part in one of our workshops on reading aloud to children. Based on the positive feedback and reviews we have received from you and children who took part in the event, we have decided to establish a tradition. The Read Aloud Week is planned again for this year from April 2nd through April 8th. Why this date? Well, first of all April 2nd is the birthday of one world's famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen and the second event connected to this date is the World Children Books Day.

The Read Aloud Week is intended for schools, parents and children. Its broad purpose is to remind, through an active awareness campaign, parents, schools and young people of the critical importance to life long learning as well as the simple joys of reading. The program is also intended to remind parents of the developmental significance of early reading to their children by reminding them of the wonders of books and of the intimacy and nurturing that comes from parents taking turns reading to their young children. Finally, the program intends to reintroduce reading aloud into the school program as a means of reinforcing the value of literacy and habit of actively engaging in reading and discussing literature.

Read Aloud Week offers a number of activities for schools and at home based on the ages of the participating children. We would like to inspire you to search various paths leading to bringing joy and interest to read for children, young people and everybody else. We have prepared two activities which support reading: Wisdom of the world and Draw your story. There are many other ways how to take part and encourage reading and reading aloud to children, for example:

• Parent - teacher meetings devoted to the importance of reading aloud.
• "Read aloud merry-go-round" - shared event for parents and children in a school or library building
• "Read Pal" - older students reading aloud to younger students (e.g. primary school kids to kindergarten children)
• "Drop everything and read" - the whole school and every person inside the building (students, teachers, principal, doorkeeper, cooks, etc.) bring a book they read and one time during a day everybody reads for few minutes. Discussions about books may follow.
• Volunteer Reading Aloud - volunteers read aloud in libraries, schools, doctors' waiting rooms, etc.
• "Turn off the TV and read" (Loud or Silent reading in families)
• Making the "Top Ten Book" list and so on.

It has been shown demonstrably that reading aloud to children is one of the most important and fundamental ways young children prepare to become readers. It is perhaps the single most important activity parents can do to prepare their child for school. Equally important is the evidence that parents reading to young children fosters a positive emotional bind between children and books that last throughout our lifetime. This positive link is related to children's interest in and ability to perform well in school, to their capacities as life long learners and the expansiveness of their expressive language skills. Evidence is also present that suggests that reading aloud should not end with the start of schooling. Read Aloud experiences are enjoyed by people of all ages. Schools and families should continue the practice of reading aloud and discussing books at all ages as the benefits of early reading continue to accrue even at older ages.

We hope to find Reading Aloud fans among you as well! We wish you many happy moments spent with books also outside this one week.

The single most important activity for building knowledge required
for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.
Becoming a Nation of Readers,
Anderson, et.al. 1985