In the communities of rural Guatemala, storybooks in children’s homes are extremely rare and many parents are illiterate. So when an adult sits down to read a book aloud to a group of kids, it is a time of magic and joy. Kids crowd around the reader, eager to see the pictures and hear stories of far-away places and new adventures. For many, storytime is where their love of reading begins.
It’s also where Child Aid begins with it’s training of new teachers and librarians in our efforts to help them promote literacy and improve students’ reading skills. In our literacy trainings, we show them how to make read alouds fun and interactive and provide techniques they can use to develop students’ vocabularies, comprehension and critical thinking skills.