Reading campaign launched for World Book Day

In celebration of World Book Day on 23 April 2022, literacy non-profit organisation Read to Rise has partnered with Vooks in its ‘Let’s Read’ campaign to get parents to help their children to read. Parents who sign up for the Read to Rise Parent Newsletter will receive tips and reading resources for the child. Upon sign up, parents will receive a free 1 year subscription to Vooks.

Vooks is an online library of storybooks brought to life with beautiful animation, read-aloud narration, engaging music and sound, and read-along text. Educational, safe, and ad-free screen time that inspires a lifelong love of reading. Vooks is helping kids around the world fall in love with reading. Purposefully paced narration means that children are read aloud to, while also being able to follow along themselves with highlighted text—connecting what they hear with what they see. This helps improve fluency, comprehension, focus and more. Vooks is a whole new way to experience the joy of reading. Watch Vooks on your favourite devices—stream on your phone, tablet, laptop, and TV—or download your favourites for offline, on-the-go viewing!

Read to Rise started in 2013 to promote youth literacy in under-resourced communities in South Africa. They currently work with 77 primary schools in Mitchells Plain and Soweto. The organisation conducts class programmes and give new story to children to own. To date the organisation has given out over 230,000 new story books.

7 out of 10 grade 4 children in South Africa are functionally illiterate. “Parents play a vital role in a child’s life. The campaign hopes to encourage parents to help their children to read. We are grateful to Vooks for partnering with us. We hope to instil a love for reading in children and to create a nation of inspired readers.” Says Taryn Lock, Read to Rise Executive Director.

Vooks is ideal for children aged 5-9 years old and are early readers. There are also activities for children.

Sign up now for the Parent Newsletter and get a 1 year free subscription to Vooks:

https://www.readtorise.co.za/parentnewsletter

Celebrating World Read Aloud Day

READ to RISE celebrated World Read Aloud Day at Littlewood Primary School in Eastridge, Mitchells Plain on 2 February 2022.

There was a lot of excitement in the classrooms as some of the learners dressed up as their favourite characters.

We were able to give a new book to 218 Grade 2 learners and 211 Grade 3 learners!

Thank you to our sponsors Fatima Swartz, Danielle Gilbert and Mokheseng Buti for your contribution.

Literacy NGO launches 8th class programme

Literacy non-profit organisation Read to Rise launched it's eighth class programme with it's latest book 'Oaky in the Playground' on 15 October 2021 at Seaview Primary School in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, Cape Town.

The children were excited for the new Oaky book which teaches us that talking is better than fighting. "Fighting is a big problem in schools, so this is a great story to teach children that it's better to talk and resolve the problems." says Executive Director, Taryn Lock.

'Oaky in the Playground' is written by award-winning poet Athol Williams and illustrated by Taryn Lock. This is the eighth book in the Oaky Series. The books offer valuable life lessons and inspirational messages. The author and illustrator do not derive any financial benefit from funds raised by the distribution of Oaky books, whether funded by donations or book sales, nor do they derive any financial benefit from any of the Read to Rise programmes that use Oaky books.

'Oaky in the Playground' was inspired by a story first told by 8 year old Kirsten Williams.

Read to Rise will be visiting all Grade 2 and 3 learners at 47 primary schools in Mitchells Plain and each of the 14,300 learners will get their own new Oaky in the Playground book to take home.

The organisation relies on donations in order to conduct it's class programmes. To date, Read to Rise has conducted over 5,200 class programmes and given out over 220,000 new story books to learners in under-resourced communities.

For only R50, you can sponsor a new story book for a child. Visit www.readtorise.co.za or donate here.