A new development, and a logical one.
We have for some time been working on our methods for monitoring and evaluating the progress our children make with their reading. We can SEE how much more they enjoy it as time passes, but we need a way of monitoring in a more measurable way.
We are about to launch something we have been thinking about for a long time – a way for CBN children to take books home with them. This will mean that we can check what interests them (and what does not) and also assess the grade of reading that they select. We are beginning the programme mid-March using boxes of graded readers form the Cambridge University Rainbow Readers, which have already been a popular choice in our Reading Toolkits.
Any child who has been to 3 workshops is entitled to a CBN badge and a reading card will be opened for them. This will list books chosen for home reading – and grade – and will give us a way of tracking the level they self-select throughout the year. In combination with other data we are now gathering, this should help us compile the kind of statistics that funders (and potential funders) need to see.
We have already bought the graded readers. We need help to extend the system. Ideally we would have Reading Club every Saturday (two of which would also be workshop Saturdays). We also need to buy more books to grade as we progress.
Cost of 3 community facilitators on a weekly basis: R600 per week
Cost of transport from informal settlement De Kop: R200 per week
Cost for increasing book stock: R5000
Image: Little CBN reading with teddy-bears donated by the Bike Run and books from Book Dash
If you can help, please contact lesley@lesleybeake.co.za or go to:
