Sunday, September 6, 2009

Read All About It!


Join UNESCO and the International Reading Association in celebrating International Literacy Day on September 8.

How can you celebrate? READ!
*cereal boxes
*street signs
*billboards
*emails
*novels
*technical manuals
*graphic novels
*magazines
*clothing labels
*store ads
*textbooks
Read anything at all!

Model reading. Let others see you read!
Read aloud to
*your child
*your spouse
*your teacher
*your friend
*your dog, cat, fish or other pet
*passersby
*yourself!

Be thankful that you can read. Here are some facts from a statement by the International Reading Association:
*It is estimated that nearly 860 million of the world's adults do not know how to read or write.
*85% of juvenile offenders [in the U.S.] have reading problems.
*American business spends $60 billion each year on employee training, much of that for remedial reading, writing, and mathematics.
*Africa, as a continent, has a literacy rate of less than 60%.

Which countries are the most literate? The least? Where does the U.S fit in? See the answers and related information in this UK Guardian article from March 9, 2009.

How will you celebrate?

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the heads up, Jane! Oh, the joy of reading--I can't imagine life without it. We are SO blessed. :) I remember learning to read at the breakfast table with the box of Cheerios! Now I look forward to every "light bulb" moment Ella has when we read, make up story endings, and sound out the letters and words together--yep, at TWO!

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