International Mother Language Day (21 February) is around the corner! Here’s why you should care:
Do you read to your children? Is a bedtime story as commonplace in your household as eating dinner, or brushing teeth?
What language do you read to your children in? Are you keeping your mothertongue alive for the next generation?
For many South African parents, reading with their children isn’t prioritised at all – for various reasons – with only 5% of primary caregivers aware that reading from birth can set their children in good stead developmentally for the rest of their lives.
It’s small wonder that 78% of our Gr 4 children are unable to read for meaning – a shocking statistic that The Mikhulu Child Development Trust is working hard to remedy through its #MyStoryMyLanguage campaign, which coincides International Mother Language Day on 21 February.
“Reading at home with children – from the age of zero upwards – is critical to their educational, language and social development,” says Kaathima Ebrahim, director of the Cape Town-based NPO.
“By uniting and engaging people across South Africa around our childhood stories, the #MyStoryMyLanguage campaign aims to encourage a culture of books within our homes. This is especially important now that more parents are at home with their children following the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on employment, education and early childhood development centres,” adds Ebrahim.
In observance of International Mother Language Day and to celebrate South Africa’s rich storytelling culture and multilingualism, The Mikhulu Child Development Trust is giving away a selection of South African children’s storybooks donated by partner organisations Bookdash, African Storybook and Biblionef – all in the mother language of each of the three winners.
Win 40 Local Children's Books
Head on over to Mikhulu’s #MyStoryMyLanguage Facebook post, summarise your favourite childhood story in the comments, and share Mikhulu’s post on your timeline.
The winner of the #MyStoryMyLanguage competition, who will be announced on 21 February 2021, will receive a prize of 40 South African children’s books. Two runners-up will each receive ten children’s books. The prizes will also include a selection of the Mikhulu Trust’s wordless picture books – key learning tools for preschool children.
About Mikhulu
The Mikhulu Child Development Trust helps community-based NPOs deliver book-sharing programmes to parents and caregivers of young children Mikhulu publishes affordable, specially designed and locally illustrated wordless picture books. Wordless picture books help parents share in the joy of reading with their young children – regardless of their language ability or level of education.
For more on Mikhulu’s innovative dialogic book sharing programme, head on over to their website.
To learn more about multilingual reading services in South Africa, listen to Episode 67 of The Great Equalizer, which features Roundafire founder Kgosi Kgosi. Roundafire is South Africa’s first multilingual reading app, which offers free audiobooks to our children.