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You might not have heard, but in December 2024, ELK Publishing established "Read Along With Us!"
To inspire young readers who are unable to get into a great book - due to a variety of circumstances - "Read Along With Us" is an opportunity to read more, and families get to enjoy the process with them - on a nightly or daily basis. Each week, "Read Along With Us" presents a new tale for you and your kids to enjoy! It is a growing collection of entertaining, memorable and highly engaging tales to inspire every child's mind. Wonderfully talented and captivating presenters, take time out of their day to bring to life both traditional children's tales and more recent tales, so that your children have more opportunities to read on a regular basis. As stated in a recent interview - our Founder and CEO - Ms Selina Kucks, "hopes young readers will join us each week, online and over time, will remain loyal to the act of reading on a daily basis. It is imperative all children learn to read from an early age and are introduced to reading by keen authors and adults who have an honest passion to see literacy figures improve globally." Ms Kucks believes, "the act of reading enhances an individual's opportunities to get ahead in life, and greatly contributes to societal progress by reducing poverty, while improving health outcomes. Access to reading shapes lives and enables less fortunate countries, societies and their citizens to participate in the acquisition of knowledge and learning, which in-turn creates productive individuals who are willing to give back to society. "Bridging the gap is essential for creating a more equitable and prosperous world, but we cannot expect literacy outcomes to improve, if opportunities to read are not continually offered to the public. Reading has to become second nature. It has to be seen as an important part of growing up - whereby all adults encourage kids to read." To join us, click below. Then, save us in your internet collections or phone reading tab - for the next time. Share our news and help us, to help kids across the world. Visit ELK PUBLISHING - Read Along With Us! ...Because reading truly starts at home. :)
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Comic bookshops are popping up in the most unlikely of places, alongside arcades that once housed the dying, collector card-game traders. They are again popular and doing a roaring trade. With the growth of the internet and the spread of information across the sphere, budding young artists are now able to turn their artistic hands into making a tidy sum.
"It was always difficult getting artwork out in the public eye, because unless you worked for Marvel, publishers just weren't interested," states Kevin Cartwright. "I know scores of really talented artists who have been drawing for just an eternity and they make nothing from their work. They sit at home penniless, while someone else exploits them and takes the cheque. I think the biggest problem in the past has been not knowing how to get work out there. For some artists they can draw alright, but they are lousy at the business side of things, so they get taken for a ride, so many times. You have to be really tech-savy to survive." Fixing a school is something we all can relate to as teachers. However, I don't know if he is doing anything different or revolutionary that hasn't already been tried. Schools - secondary or primary are difficult entities to make passive for the sake of learning; how can we get kids on seats and learning, if they have no respect for teachers in the beginning? I am positive there are schools here in Australia that could benefit from his knowledge. What do you think?
How a high-school principal curbed suspensions with a bit of compassion - http://klou.tt/8em3rwpjezgb Further on this article can be found at: The Globe And Mail | Curbing suspensions with compassion — Rachel Giese (rachel-giese.com) ![]() February 6th, 2015 saw previous Governor-General of Australia - Quentin Bryce adopted into the ILF hall fame as many wonderful souls gone before her. The Honourable Quentin Bryce AD CVO will work tirelessly to bring about new levels of funding and awareness for indigenous communities across Australia. "We know that literacy is the key to choice, to income security, to developing potential - and it is the key to an enriching and rewarding life. That is why the work of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation is so important," she said. The Indigenous Literacy Foundation is a not-for-profit charity organisation that has delivered more than 120,000 free and culturally appropriate books to more than 250 remote Indigenous communities and service organisations around Australia. Unfortunately, such communities have no access to books - at home or in bookshops and only 36% of these communities have access to a library. Books are the first step to alleviating illiteracy across nations. We need your help! Help us help illiterate kids and their families. Purchase a book, change a life and bring real hope to these communities. Your contribution will be added to the 120,000 books already supplied to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation fund. http://www.elk-publishing.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html Source: http://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/quentin-bryce-joins-ilf-as-its-patron.html It appears the world of fan fiction has been turned on its end, since 'Fifty Shades of Grey' has entered the world of literature. Do we even call it literature?
Tell us what you think. Today, the world of literature has become one of the biggest commercial markets in the world. Publishing has expanded exponentially and the means by which one is expected to deliver such information to the reader, is painting a very new face. Yes, many individuals would consider this good business. Yet, is children’s' education suffering - given that literature is just not catering to the learning and academic needs of the child? Are publishers too caught up in the world of capitalism to notice - literacy and numeracy rates are plummeting?
ACER - Australian Council for Educational Research revealed, Australians lack sufficient numeracy and literacy skills to sustain them through life - stating that it is having a negative impact on the economy, the individuals and on productivity. "The 21st century requires its citizens and workers to have increasingly higher-level literacy and numeracy skills,” Mr Tout stated (Herald: 2013). According to the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures maths, reading and science skills of half a million 15-year-olds from around the world, Australia’s ranking fell in all subjects: from 15th to 19th in mathematics; 10th to 16th in science and 9th to 14th in reading, since 2009. "Asian countries like China, Singapore, Korea and Japan are pulling ahead of Australian students in maths and reading." (Anderson: 2013) Understandably, more and more of our young children, particularly boys are being left behind. Young adults and adolescents are entering the job market with insufficient literacy skills. Unfortunately, Australia is not the only country in this boat. So, where am I going with this? Illiterate individuals do not just notice one day, they cannot read. It is a state of being that gets progressively worse over the years. It does not start at secondary school. The problem arises much early - primary school, kindergarten, pre-school - before they enter the school arena. The problem of not being able to read, somehow gets overlooked - let go or ignored. It is considered too minuscule to worry about. What is the old saying? 'It will sort its self out.' However, we cannot sit back and wait for this to happen; nor can we blame teachers or schools for letting it get this bad. We must remember, there is not one child in a classroom, but thirty and only so many hours in one day. Schools are under-funded; teachers are overworked; resources are more and more difficult to acquire. There are many reasons for drops in literacy rates across nations. Yet, one of the biggest concerns is when and where literacy begins? Answer: Literacy development begins at home, within a literate home environment - in the early stages of childhood. Publishers are as much responsible for assisting with this set-up, as are parents and teachers. However, how does one choose and get access to quality literature that will encourage a new reader? How does one maintain a child's reading interest? Colour-driven - large font - progressive and creative, children's literature / school texts could be the key. Unfortunately, just as children are reaching the critical stage of brain myelination (adolescence), they are expected to learn from graphic - black and white school texts supporting minute font. It should be noted, during this stage the brain is making millions of new connections; it is being re-wired and it will forfeit old connections to make ones. Is it any wonder adolescents appear to have lost the art of communication - by fact, they have. It is also another reason why they are drawn to the highly absorbent, visually stimulating, colour imagery of games - it attracts their newly connecting synapses in the brain. Publishers can greatly assist schools, teachers and parents by producing higher quality, interactive-educational packs for early literacy and numeracy acquisition; and by producing at minimum, the same quality of texts that are available for primary learners, but for the secondary educational market. This will give adolescents the extra help they need during this trying period, which in turn, could play a big part in eventually lifting literacy rates across the globe. References: Hocking, W. (2013) Herald Sun, Retrieved from: http://www.mamamia.com.au/social/pisa-results-shows-australias-failing-education-system/ Anderson,S.(2013) Mamamia, Retrieved from: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/australians-lack-basic-literacy-numeracy-skills/story-fni0fiyv-1226738549202 |
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