(Josh Applegate
Youth literacy has steadily increased around the world over the past three decades, according to data from UNICEF.
Overall, the number of illiterate young people has fallen by around 75 million in the past 30 years, despite global population increases.
However, it’s not all good news.
A gender gap persists, and more than 100 million young people were still illiterate in 2016. This gap has narrowed in recent years, but there were still 13 million more illiterate 15- to 24-year-old women than men in that year.
International Literacy Day is held on 8 September every year, and highlights successes but also the challenges that remain in global literacy rates.
This year’s event focuses on multilingualism, and embracing linguistic diversity, particularly in a globalized and digital modern world.
You can find out more about the event here.
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Both of my kids could read before they went to school. How we did it?
First, I read. A lot. I read my own books, I read to my children and we go to the library and take as many books as we can carry each time. We listen to books on tape in the car as well. Read things to them that are above their reading level.
Next, we had lots of educational toys that encourage reading, had letter tiles and magnetic letters and I also posted cards with words on them all over the house, labeling everything (Stove, Frame, Bookcase, Chair, etc.).
Also, I used a book I found on this site. We only got to about lesson 25 or 26 and both of my boys were reading by then. We didn’t even do a whole lesson every day…as it got harder and my son was struggling, I only did a half or a third of a lesson a day.
One of my sons is now 12 and is only now picking up novels, until now he was happy to be read to and read comic books like the Far Side, Garfield, Baby Blues, . It took a long time. My other son is 14 and I still read to both of them at night. About an hour each time, sometimes more, if the cliffhanger is too exciting to put off until tomorrow.
Also, once they do learn to read, even a little, let them read ANYTHING. If they like comic books, get them comic books. Don’t worry that they aren’t reading important literature, the important thing is to get them reading…whatever it is, even magazines, on the ipad, etc. Eventually, they will pick up other types of books.
Remember: reading is the road to success!
Good luck!
Anders