Literacy Challenges in South Africa – How Reading Can Affect Your Child’s Development:

Did you know that 8 out of 10 South African school children struggle to read by the age of 10 years old? An international study has found that South Africa ranked last out of 50 countries assessed in an International Reading Literacy Study, which tested the reading ability of 400,000 students globally in 2021.

The Impact of Low Literacy Rates on South Africa

Poor literacy rates can have long term impacts on learners. Children who struggle to read by age 13 have the highest risk of dropping out of school, this can impact adult literacy rates as well as future employment opportunities. Limited employment opportunities mean families are unable to break out of the cycle of poverty.

The Importance of Early Childhood Reading

Neuroscience research reveals that early childhood is the ideal time to develop the basic skills for reading fluency, and the degree to which children acquire language skills and become motivated, habitual readers. Being able to read is an important part of a child’s development and exposing children to books at an early age helps with their vocabulary development and language skills. But these benefits go beyond academic achievement – reading has been found to boost mental health and cognitive ability.

How You Can Help Your Child Develop Reading Skills

Just 10 to 15 minutes a day with a book is enough to spark your child’s interest in learning to read. When you read to your child, talk about the characters and objects in the book or the sounds the animals make. Hearing your voice helps give meaning to the letters and pictures they are seeing. A love of reading opens the door to adventures, learning new things and a whole host of key language skills such as speech development and vocabulary building. Spending time with books also creates special moments for you to bond with your child and enjoy each other’s company. Together, we can tackle the literacy challenges in South Africa!

Ready to Take the Next Step in Your Child’s Reading Development?

Go to www.climbintoreading.com to learn more about the Climb into Reading programme and explore how the ABI and KUMO reading books can ignite your child's curiosity and reading development.

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