Project “Reading Future”
We are running the "A Future that Reads" Program for children in regions where there is a need.
20 Cities
50+ Education Programs
500.000 Mothers
Early childhood, i.e. the first 6 years of life, is the period when children show the most rapid development; when their cognitive, social, emotional, physical and language development is the fastest, and when there are opportunities for children’s development which are difficult to be caught again. This is also the period when learning is in its most intense form and basic habits and mental abilities are developed and shaped.
Studies show that children who grow up in an environment with a high socio-economic status hear 45 million words when they reach the age of 4, while children who grow up in an environment with a low socio-economic status hear 13 million words only. In order to close this gap of 32 million words, it is very important to read to children from early ages on. (Hart & Risley, 2003).
What is the situation in our country?
- In Turkey, 67% of the families with low welfare levels read NO books to their children.
- The rate of daily reading is only 13% even in families with high welfare levels.
- Approximately 93% of 3-year-old children living in poor households have 3 books maximum.
(Study of Early Childhood Developmental Ecologies in Turkey (ECDET) data)
In order to improve this situation, we conduct the “Reading Future” Project, which we launched in 2016 for children and parents in need. With the training programs carried out within the scope of the project, we aim to improve children’s language skills and help them acquire the love and habit of reading; and we carry out various activities in order to raise an awareness in parents regarding the importance of reading.
What Do We Do?
Reading Groups is one of the programs carried out under the Reading Future Project with the aim of supporting the development of 4-to-7-year-old children in need. The main objective of the program is to support the mental, physical, social and emotional development of children, particularly their language development and acquisition of the reading habit at an early age. The program is carried out by a 90-minute session once a week for 10 weeks with the participation of a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 25 children. The program is carried out using the program documents as a basis by the trainers who attended the trainer training provided by AÇEV.
Among the most important activities in the Reading Future Project, which aims to support children’s language development and to help them acquire the reading habit, is the Family Seminars. The aim is to reach the parents through these seminars whose children participate in the Reading Groups Program. The objective of the Family Seminars is to support parents, who form the immediate circle around children, about the importance of reading. The seminar discusses the importance of reading books to children, the benefits of reading for parents, what needs to be done to make children love reading, what is required for the maintenance of the reading habit, considerations when reading to children, and the importance of choosing books suitable for children’s ages and interests. At the end of the seminar, brochures containing the topics discussed in the seminar are distributed to the parents.
Reading with the Little Ones Workshops is a program carried out to support the development of 2-to-3-year-old children in need. The main objective of the program is to support the mental, physical, social and emotional development of children, particularly their language development and acquisition of the reading habit at an early age. It is very important that the development of children is supported by their families at early ages. Parents who participate in the program with their children are provided with useful information about what they can do to support their children’s development in the home environment. The program is carried out as a 1-hour session once a week for 5 weeks with the participation of 15 parents and their 2-to-3-year-old children.
Another pillar of the Reading Future Project is the set deliveries. In 2021, AÇEV took a new path and moved the Reading Future Project to the digital platform in order to enable all children in Turkey to access books. With the help of the donations made through okuyanbirgelecek.acev.org, AÇEV’s Reading Future Platform, Reading Future Sets are sent to the houses of the children who cannot access books. The sets sent to children include illustrated storybooks, game and activity suggestions, drawing books, dry paints, play doughs, geometric shape games and children’s science magazine. AÇEV’s volunteer trainers call each house to which the sets are sent and explain to parents how they can support their children’s development using the educational materials included in the set.
How many people have we reached so far with the Reading Future Project?
Kaynaklar: Baydar, N., Küntay, A., Gökşen, F., Yağmurlu, B., & Cemalcılar, Z. (2008). Türkiye’de Erken Çocukluk Gelişim Ekolojileri (TEÇGE) Çalışması - 1. Tur Verileri. Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (2003). The early catastrophe: The 30 million word gap by age 3. American Educator, 27(1), 4-9.
We have reached 13,760 children and their parents
through our face-to-face education programs.
We have sent Reading Future Sets
to 12,332 children and interviewed their parents.
