“The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.”- Dr. Seuss
What is ‘Plant a Seed to Read’?
This project is aimed at instilling a love for reading in our young children by providing them with books that are relevant and engaging. To this end, We will bring 5-10 books into classrooms that are contextualized for the life children are living in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Our intention is not just to handout the books, but to provide lesson plans for each book in conjunction with the National Curriculum Development Unit. Accessible lesson plans will help ensure the books are used in the classroom.
Why will this impact our children?
The issues that face our young people today are many and complex, and one may well wonder how introducing books to youngsters can help. The truth is that reading is one of the cornerstones of a child’s development. Reading skills are key to success in school and work. In addition, reading can be fun, stave off boredom, and open the child’s mind to new worlds and ideas. Reading is also important in helping children to develop language and communications skills. All of these “side effects” of a love for reading lead to higher self-esteem, greater social and emotional wellbeing, and greater earning potential.
Illiteracy and crime are closely related. The US Department of Justice states, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.” The effects of illiteracy are similar in developing and developed countries. Illiterate people tend to earn significantly less than their literate counterparts and don’t have the skills to undertake further training to improve their earning capacity. They are often trapped in a cycle of poverty with limited opportunities for employment or income generation and higher chances of poor health, and may turn to crime to solve their financial problems.
While there are many reasons that young people may become involved with drugs and gangs or become teenage parents, having alternative activities, having achievable goals for their financial future, and having the growth of imagination and exposure to other worlds that comes with reading can certainly help to guide young people towards making better choices. Parents can steer children towards books that have positive role models or that expose the realities of life in a gang or a life involving drug abuse. This sort of influence can be significantly more difficult to achieve if the child has never developed an early love for reading.
How can you help?
At this point we have received funding to introduce the books into one school for one year. We aim to raise enough to supply books for the entire elementary school system and to continue supplying them each year. Your organization can consider contributing funds for an entire school for one year or for a series of years, in the range of US$2,500 per annum. You can also contribute to our GoFundMe page.