I am currently working on my Girl Scouts Silver Award. This is award is one of the higher awards a girl can receive during her middle school years (6th-8th grade). A person has to go out into the community and actively make the world a better place with the chosen topic. The topic I chose is reading literacy in adolescent ages.
I chose this issue because of how essential it is for a child to read while they are young. According to all4kids.org it states “Reading daily to young children, starting infancy can help with language acquisition and literacy skills.” Reading to a child extremely young has many long-term benefits such as phonemic awareness, phonic skills, expanded vocabulary, better reading comprehension, and reading fluency.
It is estimated that ⅔ of children can’t read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. Not being able to have proficient read skills leads to a less developed brain. PBS.org explains that reading to a toddler leads to a more likely chance of graduating high school. A ton of things are influenced by the necessity of being a proficient reader. For example increase in concentration and discipline, imagination and creativity skills, and a love for reading
One goal I strived to achieve was to raise a total of 150 books. I exceeded this number by promoting my cause to family and friends. I did a book drive, so I don’t know the exact number, but I estimate over 100 people donated. What I also did was read to around a total of 20 kids. About 10 each day when reading to Legacy Academy kids and about 4 while reading to my little cousins. Both were around the age of 4 years and 5 years old. I read to my little cousins on September 5 and 6th of 2020 for 15-20 minutes. I read books that were already included in their library.
Donating and reading will provide children and teens with books, so they would enjoy reading. Promoting literacy which leads to many added benefits. Reading is a skill needed throughout daily life. A person with vision reads every day. Without knowing how to read a person isn’t able to comprehend basic words and vocabulary. Not knowing how to read leads to a person having little knowledge about anything.
The basis of my project was I collected books and donated it to GCPS Book Mobile. GCPS Book Mobile often comes to various Gwinnett County Schools and donates a free book to each student. In addition to this during the school year, they go to low income places and donated food and books for the people in the area. I was able to collect 186 books exceeding my goal of 150 books.
Fun Fact there is a National Literacy Day on September 8th. It was created to remind people to read.