Leipzig Recommendations on Early Literacy Education

130 participants from over 35 countries attending the international expert conference "Prepare for Life! Raising Awareness for Early Literacy Education" in March 2013 in Leipzig developed the Leipzig Recommendations on Early Literacy Education, a whole set of recommendations on how to improve Early Literacy Education.

Collecting Books for African Libraries

The UNESCO estimates that 38 percent of adult Africans are illiterate. In many sub-Saharan African countries, literacy rates are below 50 percent. However, literacy is at the core of education and basic skills needed to meet the challenges of life.

Promoting School Libraries in Kenya

In Kenya, establishing school libraries for making learning material more easily available to students and teachers lack behind quickly rising primary school net enrolment rate. The primary school net enrolment rate indicates the ratio of children of the official primary school age who are enrolled in primary school to the total population of the official primary school age.

2013-04-03

Golden Baobab Promotes African Children's Literature

According to a paper published in 2000, Africa imports roughly 70 percent of its book needs. Elliot Agyare, former president of the Ghana Books Publishers Associations thinks it might even be up to 80 percent.

It can be argued that these books – most of them coming from Western countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany – do not reflect local African languages, ...

2013-03-27

Becoming a Literate Adult on the Fast Track in India

According to the CIA World Fact Book, 73 per cent of men and only 48 per cent of women in India above the age of 15 can read and write. Being illiterate basically means no chance to escape from poverty, learn vocational skills and create a viable income.

2013-03-21

The Power of Poems in the Waiting Room

People in a waiting room oscillate somewhere between hope and depression. Poems may help to initiate positive emotions and healing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: "How much of human life is lost in waiting." This could not be more true than for people in a physician's waiting room. According to a survey, patients spend an average of 21 minutes waiting to see the doctor in the Unites States. But most people can tell stories of waiting for one hour and longer, even with an appointment.

2013-03-20

Prepare for Life: Language Education Is More Than Learning the Alphabet

The International Expert Conference of early childhood language and reading skills want to work on a recommendation catalogue.

More than 130 participants from 35 different countries discussed cultural, social and political parameters for up-to-date early childhood language and reading skills at the international expert conference "Prepare for Life! Raising awareness for Early Literacy Education“ in Leipzig from 12th to 14th March.

Babies Take Statistics About the Languages They Hear

2013-03-06

In order to become literate, babies must acquire language. Dr Patricia Kuhl is the co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences of the University of Washington and well-known for her research on speech sounds and the first critical period in language development with babies.

Buying Books for a Better World

2013-02-27

What to do with textbooks after graduation? Some people try to sell them to a local academic bookstore for little money. Most people simply throw them away. College friends Xavier, Kreece and Jeff had a better idea.

The Underground New York Public Library

2013-02-19

We are all fascinated by stories. Children love listening to stories. We love stories as adults. We love telling stories, and we all are involved in our very own stories, too. Stories transport cultural knowledge, give us advice, open up fresh perspectives and reveal meaning. We might identify with the stories' characters and relate to them. Also, stories serve to slip into another world for a short period of time, away from the "real" world we currently live in.