The Scholastic team dissect the latest research into the 'summer slide' theory, and offer ways to ensure literacy rates do not drop over the six week school holiday break.
“Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them. And it's much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world!”
― Neil Gaiman LEARN MORE
We can all think back to a childhood favourite—our favourite meal, our favourite toy, or our favourite bedtime story. Thinking back fondly, we can connect the joys of reading about our favourite book characters with the spark of curious, creative, childish imagination! A child’s imagination is something worth preserving for as long as possible, and with it, the joy of endless possibilities it fosters. LEARN MORE
Dressing up allows children to express themselves, explore different characters, and escape into magical, fictional worlds. Jumping onto a brightly coloured floor rug can transport creative minds around the world, and at great heights. Sheathing a plastic sword at the waist means a dangerous battle has just been won in the lounge room. Having props or costumes in the home can keep children in their favourite storybook long after reaching the last page. LEARN MORE
Through Book Club, Book Fairs, Australian Standing Orders and Retail Outlets, Scholastic proudly promotes independent reading to schools, parents and children. We understand how crucial independent reading is to children’s success and the importance of helping children to find the right books to get them excited about stories and information, to link their reading to fun, discovery and curiosity, and to promote the sheer joy that reading can bring. LEARN MORE
Reading is an excellent way to develop communication skills in children. Children naturally absorb and improve their language skills by observing how others use words to form phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and complete books. The more they read, the better their communication skills become.
Listening to stories is also a great way to stimulate brain growth, regardless of age. Even before they start speaking, children are already learning language. The conversations they hear around them help to develop their language comprehension and vocabulary. However, reading books with them exposes them to a wider range of words and language patterns. LEARN MORE
One of the best ways to incorporate reading into your family's daily routine is by gradually including it in your schedule. It could be as simple as dedicating twenty minutes after dinner or reading together at the breakfast table, after school, or in a cozy corner of the house. These short yet regular sessions are an excellent way to develop reading habits. LEARN MORE
At Scholastic, our fundamental objective is to inspire a love of reading and learning in kids everywhere. However, we also believe it's our responsibility to minimise our environmental impact. This drives us to continually investigate ways to reduce our carbon footprint through environmental initiatives. LEARN MORE
AS A TEACHER, you’ll probably already know that Graphic Novels are all the rage. Graphic Novels powerfully attract and motivate kids to read—and they’re enjoying them! We believe this incredibly rich format can be used in a wider context to bring life and excitement to your classroom, with the benefit of developing literacy. LEARN MORE
For over 100 years our worldwide mission at Scholastic has been to seed in children a lifelong love of reading and learning.
Through reading, children develop phonemic awareness, word knowledge, vocabulary and critical thinking skills. By valuing books, they experience the power of stories to spark their imagination and stimulate their curiosity. Simply put, reading helps to develop a child's brain and advances their social and communication skills. LEARN MORE
Did you know that, according to the Australian Kids and Family Reading Report, an overwhelming majority of kids aged 6–17 agree that their favourite books—and the ones they are most likely to finish—are the ones they pick out themselves. Nearly all of the participants agreed that they feel pride and a sense of accomplishment when they finish reading a book. This simple act of selecting and reading a book for pleasure has been proven to play an integral role in a child’s success during both their schooling and adult life. LEARN MORE
It has been well-documented that reading is academically beneficial for children in so many ways. It improves their vocabularies, verbal fluency, comprehension, spelling, general knowledge and so much more. But did you know that reading has benefits that extend beyond the purely academic? It allows children the time to quieten their mind and to unwind, soothing any stress or anxiety that may have been taking up space in their thoughts. This act of relaxing and focusing on a single task without background distractions is called mindfulness. LEARN MORE
Think back to some of your favourite memories from your childhood. Chances are, these memories include times where you cosied up next to a loved one as they read to you from your favourite book. You may not even remember any book titles in particular, but just the warm, loving feelings that you received from this special reading time, and have carried into your adult life. And this feeling is still universal today, with the overwhelming majority of kids saying that they love being read books aloud at home—the main reason being because it is a special time with a loved one[1]. Creating these cherished read-aloud moments with your child allows them to form a positive association with books, both during childhood and well into their adult lives. LEARN MORE
August is a special month for book-lovers. It’s that particular time of year when, during your daily commute, you could be lucky enough to see Captain Underpants, Dorothy, Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Thelma the Unicorn all walking together to school. No, we haven’t entered a magical parallel universe where characters from our favourite books walk among us—we’ve entered Book Week! Book Week is a special time when schools and libraries across Australia join in the celebration of children’s literature. During this time, children are often encouraged to dress as their favourite book characters to take part in book parades and assemblies. However, Book Week is so much more than just another school dress-up day; it is an annual celebration that encourages children to connect with books and reading on a fun, personal level. LEARN MORE
Did you know that just 10 minutes of reading a day will change your child’s life? While that may seem like a big statement to make, numerous studies have consistently shown that 10 minutes exposure to reading materials each day is all it takes to positively shape your child’s future. And this doesn’t just include complicated educational texts—any reading materials, be it comic books, novels, picture books, recipes, the television guide or the back of food packets, all count towards your child’s daily reading goal. Reading any of these materials for 10 minutes a day exposes your child to more than 600,000 words in one year—interestingly, that’s more than double the word exposure of a child who only reads for 5 minutes or less each day. The benefit of this word exposure is immense—research shows us that reading more improves a child’s performance in general knowledge, vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency and spelling[i]. But this goal of reading for 10 minutes each day isn’t only to improve your child’s academic success; the effects of this achievement are far more long-term than you may have anticipated. LEARN MORE
Over the past few months, we have been exploring the important impact that reading from a young age has on your child’s lifelong success. Experiencing the joys of reading helps your child to excel in both their academic life and personal life—improving their cognitive abilities and their personal well-being. However, we’ve also touched on the idea that any form of reading—not just deep-diving into lengthy novels—counts towards your child’s recommended daily reading goal. Reading success is not exclusively for children who are already dedicated bookworms. With some guidance, it is achievable for any child, no matter their interests or abilities. And interest is a key factor here, as the power of choice has a significant impact on a child’s engagement with what they’re reading. The more engaged a child is from the beginning, the more likely they are to associate reading with fun. LEARN MORE
Scholastic has been the market leader of Australian children’s publishing for over 50 years. The fledgling H J Ashton Company—founded in New Zealand in 1962—was established in Australia in 1968. In 1970, the company joined the Scholastic Inc. International group, which has its head office in New York, USA.
Since then, Scholastic has established itself as a beloved and recognisable household name in children’s literature. For decades, Scholastic has proudly been bringing adventure and the unrivalled enjoyment of reading to multiple generations of Australian families. Many of the books bought by Scholastic’s first customers are still sitting, battered and loved, on the bookshelves of those customer’s own children and grandchildren. LEARN MORE
For more than 50 years, Scholastic Book Club has been bringing to the joy of reading to Australian children. Today, Book Club can be found in more than 94% of primary schools across Australia, with a yearly circulation of over 20 million catalogues. Each Issue of Book Club covers ages from 0-12+ years and contains specially curated, age-appropriate titles that have been carefully selected and levelled by a dedicated team of professional booklovers.
Book Club provides families with an affordable and convenient way to access the best in Australian and international children's literature. As well as bridging the important class-to-home reading gap, Book Club also benefits Australian schools—for every Book Club order placed, Scholastic gives back 15% of the order spend to schools to spend on valuable educational resources via its Scholastic Rewards program. LEARN MORE