Little Hands, Big Steps

Learning to love books is a first step towards literacy, and it can start well before a child is old enough to read, recognise letters, or even sit up. And sharing books with babies can be a glorious experience! Sitting with a baby close and warm and talking about a book, pointing out colours and shapes, feeling the book, turning pages, talking – always talking! Babies come to associate books with being warm and safe, and a pleasurable experience

That's why KidsLibs is launching Little Hands, Big Steps, a program that provides parents and caregivers of children under five with training, materials and support to make daily reading a part of their routine. We hope this will be fun for both child and parent!

Stephen reading to his son

We are starting small, with five families in Mathare North. Caregivers will be given some tips on how to use books with very young children, and a special bag of assorted age-appropriate books every week. Each week, families will return their bag of books and get a new bag with different books inside. After 10 weeks, we will give each family some books to keep and use at home, and choose another five families.

In time, we hope to find the resources to expand this program to all of our centers. Thanks to American Friends of Kenya for donating bookbags and to the Rotary Club of Norwich, Connecticut, U.S.A. for $205 to purchase some of the books for the pilot program! International School of Kenya also donated some picture books, and we will use other board books we have in our stock.

Research

When considering starting our Little Hands, Big Steps project we looked at some research into using books with children under five. We made some discoveries!

• Early access to books increases school readiness:
• Researchers Moore and Wade researched the question and found, in summary, that children who have been given access to books at an early age were "consistently superior in all observed elements at pre-school." (Moore and Wade 1993 cited in Moore and Wade 2003: 8).
• Shared early reading benefits both children and caregivers:
• A study from Roehampton University (Collins et al 2005) concluded that in addition to positive effects on language acquisition and early literacy skills, shared reading experiences gave caregivers a strong positive bond with their young children that they treasured.
• Shared early reading takes advantage of the natural learning style of very young children: "The most important feature of a child's language experience is that it is conversational in nature." (Wells 1985: 1) Moreover, when children listen to stories, before they are able to read, they gain experience with the organisational structures of language: "…the child is beginning to come to grips with the symbolic potential of language." (Wells 1985: 134)

As the parent acts as an enabler - pointing out initial sounds, letting the child fill in the missing words, encouraging discussion - such as “what do you think will happen next?” - and reinforcing the sequential patterns of the story, the child begins to recognise that stories have a beginning, middle and an ending. As the adult gradually withdraws, the child becomes increasingly more independent and capable, and will be at a point of reading readiness.

Filling a Gap

In Kenya, where most people read only the contexts of school, church, or to read the newspaper, introducing new ideas about reading is essential! To read for pleasure, to read to find out because you want to know- not just because you have to answer an exam question. To enjoy the feel of a book, the sense of wonder as you don’t know where the book will take you!

Little hands can take the first steps to a literate and book-loving Kenya.