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<<<back Report of the conference “How to transform the effort of reading into a joyful pastime" On
The
aim of the conference was to create, for the local families and teachers,
a moment of careful reflection, dialogue, exchange of experiences and
opinions, in order to produce a synergic power between school and
family. The
same concept was explained by the headmistress Rita Nobile, who wanted
to emphasize the importance of sharing values to improve the quality of
school. The
conference’s guests were the psychologist and mother Catia Fornara,
the veterinary surgeon and father Diego Manca and Aurora Martini,
animator on reading activities for children. Mrs.
Fornara was the first one to speak and she underlined that the joy of
reading starts at home with the parents help. At
school one can learn reading techniques but not how to be curious or
interested in books. The
psychologist offered a recipe to reach this aim. First
ingredient: it is very important to read to your children by creating a
daily ritual, for example by reading a story every evening. Second
ingredient: books must always be present at home. Today there are many
books for sale, even for very young children; with these books they can
play even when they are having a bath or as they like. Last
ingredient: reading must come before television. Then
the writer and veterinary surgeon Diego Manca told about his experience
as a parent with a son who loved stories. The
father made up stories for his son and the child wanted to hear, every
evening, the same stories without changing the words. This was because
the child felt reassured. The
characters of his stories are animals, creatures that he knows well. Diego
Manca decided to write his stories and get them published. Quoting
a famous phrase of Rodari, a popular Italian writer for children, Manca
wants to highlight how books are the only means to develop the
imagination in children. Parents
must share reading with their children because this creates a feeling of
safety in the child. Many
times children receive as a present useful but boring books, this can
destroy curiosity in reading. The
approach to books must be free and not forced, for this purpose it’s
useful to even read comics just for pleasure. The
last one to speak was Ms. Aurora Martini, head of the Civic Library in
Verbania and promoter of “Il Battello a Vapore” event. Ms.
Martini is worried about the fact that very few Italian children read
and this reflects the average Italian family. A
survey published in Italian newspaper “Il sole 24 ore” highlighted
that in the last year only 41% of Italian adults read at least one book,
this means that the remaining 59% haven’t read anything during the
year. To
overcome this crisis, it is necessary from childhood to encourage the
desire of reading before children become hooked on watching television. It’s
important that adults pass on with their actions the right values. The
child must be overseen by the family, he must not be left alone to his
own devices but he must be encouraged to talk about what he has read. Books
are fundamental in the growing up of an individual because they help to
develop means necessary to take part in an active and critical way in
our civilized society. In
fact it’s important to be able to express oneself precisely and to
know how to use the right synonyms to give the right shade of meaning to
our thoughts. An
adult with a limited vocabulary hasn’t got a wide vision of the world
and he isn’t free to decide without the influence of the mass media. If the average family appears to be lacking in love of reading, it’s up to the state run organizations and libraries to offer the possibility, to the young and future generations, of an awareness and serene maturation.
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