Message from Brian Caswell, Patron for Gosford City Reads

There is a quiet revolution taking place in many homes around the world. New understandings about how children learn to read – and the vast difference between effective early reading (and ‘pre-reading) and mere ‘decoding’ have led to a radical shift in the way a majority of experts believe reading should be taught.

In fact, ‘taught’ is probably the wrong word. It turns out that the most effective way to teach a child to become a life-long enthusiastic reader, is not to try to teach them at all! And this should come as welcome news for all parents.

The philosophy behind the new literacy (what we call ‘immersive literacy’) focuses on us, as parents, providing the primary emotional link between our children and their future relationship with the written word. 

It relies on us understanding and embracing the simple, fun experiences which can support their future success in reading.

Research with thousands of families has demonstrated that the key to success in reading lies not with mechanical approaches (e.g. drilling in phonics), but rather in immersing the child from an early age in the magical experience of stories, and enabling the child to share those stories with loving adults, such as parents, extended family and older siblings.

The development in ‘narrative intelligence’ which results from such an immersion has been shown to effect far more than merely the child’s ability to make sense of the words on the page. In fact it goes to the very heart of his ability to make sense of the world of knowledge that lies before him into the future.

As residents of Gosford City, we are particularly fortunate to have a forward-thinking and enthusiastic children’s library network – professionals who understand the importance of early childhood literacy. They constantly provide innovative and engaging programs such as Gosford City Reads, encouraging families to become involved with this exciting – and fun – approach to developing literacy in the very young (and the not so young too!).

As someone who has spent most of his life working with and writing for, young people and their parents, I am honoured to have been asked to act as patron for the 2009 Gosford City Reads, and I encourage every parent and every child to get involved in some way. The worst you can do is have fun and experience a family-building time with your children. The best is that you provide them with a platform upon which the rest of their life’s success can be built.

Readers are thinkers, and thinkers are the builders of tomorrow. In our ever-changing world, whatever we can do to release the inner-reader in our child is worth doing – and as soon as possible.

Brian Caswell
Author and Educator.
For information about Brian Caswell, please click here.

For further information on Gosford City Reads 2009 please phone 4304 7009.