Today's Kindness #265: February 1, 2023
📚Read Aloud📚
World Read Aloud Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February and takes place on February 1 this year. This is a day dedicated to reading and the art and practice of reading aloud. Stories were passed down from generation to generation even before writing was invented. Oral forms of storytelling were the earliest way of preserving human knowledge, insight, and creativity. This day helps us bring this tradition back to reading while promoting literacy.
How To Celebrate:
Read Aloud
This is a great opportunity to pick your child's favorite book and take turns reading it. Adding character to the protagonists of the story through voice makes the experience more entertaining. If you already do that and want to try something different, you could just retell the stories you may have heard from your parents and grandparents.
Use the Hashtag
#WorldReadAloudDay was a top trending hashtag in February 2020. Besides the children, families, and schools that participate in the day worldwide, celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker and Chelsea Clinton have also tweeted the hashtag to do their bit for literacy. This is a great time to join in and raise awareness around this important movement.
Listen to an Audiobook
Listening to an audiobook is a great alternative if you love to read but can never find the time to. If you're enthusiastic enough about the story, it may even motivate you to recount it to someone else. Gifting an audiobook or subscription to a child or friend is another way of inspiring the love of books.
Today's purpose is to be kind to the minds of yourself while spreading the joy of reading to others.
"Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read."
~ Marilyn Jager Adams