How to start a reading club

by Vulindlela Reading Clubs on Monday, July 18, 2011 at 2:52pm

Read, read, read! How to start a reading club (Sunday Times, 2011)

Written for Nelson Mandela Day by PRAESA Early Literacy Unit, University of Cape Town

What do you know about reading clubs? Do you know that they have got nothing to do with schoolwork or exams and everything to do with having fun?  Reading clubs can be known as book clubs or reading groups – the name doesn't matter– it's what you do there and who you do it with that counts!

What is a reading club?

It's a place where people who love stories and books meet regularly to read and to discuss what they are reading. It can happen in African languages or English. It's all about telling, reading, listening to and talking about stories and other things. It's also about writing because reading and writing go together. A reading club can also be a place to learn to read or to improve your reading if you can't read at all, or if you don't read very well. Anyone can be involved- toddlers, teenagers, moms, dads, and grandparents. You can have mixed aged reading clubs or clubs for the same age group. It's a relaxed environment, more like home than school, because nobody is forced to come; it's something you choose to do.

Why start a reading club?

As children grow to love stories and books, they also start learning how to read. So reading clubs help children become readers!

Where and when can you run a reading club?

A reading club can happen anywhere where there is a quiet space and at anytime that is convenient. It can last for half an hour, or two hours. It's up to you! Most reading clubs take place once a week. You could meet more, but it shouldn't be less!

Start a reading club anywhere safe - at school or at aftercare, in a library or in a clinic. Start one in someone's house or garage, at Sunday School or Mosque.

Who can run a reading club?

Reading clubs are run best by people who love stories and books and want to help children grow to love reading. You don't have to be a teacher, but you do have to get to know about the world of children's stories and books.  Most reading clubs are run by volunteers, so you don't get paid money. Your payment is in the fun you have and the satisfaction that you are making a difference!

Some ‘do's and don't's'

Do!

Find out which libraries have good selections of books.

Find out where you can get books in African languages.

Choose stories you like to read, and practice reading aloud before you read to others.

Invite children to tell you what they like and don't like about a story.

Give children chances to read aloud if they want to.

Allow children to choose a book for you to read to them, and for them to read quietly to themselves or with friends.

Offer suggestions for them to do after a story: they can write a book review, or a summary of a story for others to read.

Don't!

Don't force children to read a book they don't want to.

Don't make them answer questions after a story or write about it.

Don't make children read aloud in front of others if they don't feel confident.

Never humiliate children and make them feel inadequate.

What size group is best?

Your group can be the size you want it to be. It could have five and it could have a hundred children! Decide how many you want, and how many volunteers you need to help you organize activities for each session. Usually 5 children in a group with an adult or an older child is enough. Having too many children is not the best thing to do, especially when there are few adult role models.  Fewer children means that you can give them lots of attention.

What do you need in a reading club?

Something to drink and eat is always good. And cushions and carpets are more comfortable than desks and chairs. But reading can also happen under a tree, lying on the grass, or anywhere else that feels right. Mostly, you need good books to keep everyone interested – fantasy and history, adventures and travels, galaxies and dinosaurs, how to do it books, sports and adventure stories, picture books, poetry, rhymes and songs, newspapers and magazines.

Where can you get books and support?

Borrow books from libraries; ask for more books in the language/s you need.  If your reading club is at school, ask if the school has books you can use. Look out for charity book sales to buy cheap books. Ask friends and family members and everyone you can think of for donations!

Contact Biblionef South Africa http://www.biblionefsa.org.za/ for books, contact the Early Literacy Unit at PRAESA (021 6504013 or 650 4792) for help and advice and the Little Hands Trust http://www.littlehandstrust.com/videos.html to see the Vulindlela Reading Club video.