A Wonderful Kick-off in 2012

 

On a cold winter’s day, cloudy and misty on the second week of January, I arrived at Sheung Shui train station in an endeavor to find my way to a school seleced by Bring Me A Book as the recipient fo the first Community Training Program in 2012. I had been advised that the school was located opposite the market, which I found quite easily. However, when I looked straight ahead, I could not detect any premises that looked like a school and I was puzzled thinking I must be at the wrong place. All of a sudden, I saw a sign that read “Tung Koon School” and I was stunned for a few seconds. In front of me, was an old Chinese Style low-rise house with rooms along roofed corridors; the red tiled roof could be seen through the lush greenery. My first thought was, “Wow, what an unusual kick off for the first Community First Teacher’s Training of the Year!!” Later, I found out from the school teacher that the campus is over 50 years old. It was so refreshing to see the contrast such a traditional style school campus surrounded by so many high rise residential buildings.

My unusual experience deepened because the parents (15 in total) who joined the training were very enthusiastic to learn more about “reading aloud” after they watched the video on how reading can enhance children’s brain and language development. The magical experience started straight after the first session of the workshop when they were required to “roll up their sleeves” and complete their practice of “reading aloud” with their kids. They began to tell me about the unexpected encounters they had with their children, which I’d like to share:

“My child loved the story and begun to copy my tone of voice when we read together. It became a fun reading time. I realized now that my mistake before was focusing too much on correcting my child so neither of us enjoyed the reading experience.”

“I felt that my son kept asking lots of questions; he has never done that before.”

“I immediately looked up Bring Me A Book’s site and got hold of the quality book list and borrowed lots of books from the public library. We came back from the UK in summer and it has been a challenge for me to find  good Chinese books for my daughter. She loves the Chinese books that BMAB recommended and she enjoys reading them with me.”

“I read to my kids often but this is entirely a new experience of reading with them. This way, I found that I am bonding closer with them.”

“I suddenly found out that my child knows more than me because he asked lots of questions that I do not know how to answer. I have to learn with him at the same time.”

“My child’s reaction is ‘Mum, can you be more serious when you read’; my child has never seen me act silly in this way.  Also, I have to stop many times to answer her queries due to her mind being inspired by the story.”

These are just some of the many wonderful experiences from those parents who joined the First Teachers Training. It is important for parents to have the “hands on” portion where they can practice and apply what they learnt and model the reading aloud skills. Parents’ feedback and reflections are most helpful for them to make adjustments and keep trying to sharpen their skills through continuous practice: reading 20 minutes a day with their children.

To extend the parent commuity further, the Bring Me A Book Club holds the same purpose for parents to take full advantages of sharing their tips or challenges leading to keener insights of “reading aloud”. You are welcome to join now: http://www.bringmeabook.org.hk/?page_id=1511

May the new year of Dragon bring more wonderful stories about “reading aloud” with your kids, hoping that it create a read aloud ritual in your home too!

 

 Percie Wong, Trainer of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong