[Picture Book Professional Association] Through reading aloud in childcare, we foster children’s zest for life and realize the society they dream of in life.
*View in browser* *Picture Book Professional Association, General Incorporated Association* Press release: April 1, 2024
April Dream Project
**
Through reading aloud in childcare, we foster children’s will to live and help realize the society they dream of in life.
*The [Reading Certification Schools] project certifies schools that work together with parents to read picture books so that as many children as possible can develop the ability to overcome their challenges over and over again. We aim to expand nationwide* This press release is a dream sent out by a business operator who sympathizes with the April Dream project and wants to make April 1st a day full of dreams, hoping to make them come true soon.
This press release is a dream sent out by a business operator who sympathizes with the April Dream project and wants to make April 1st a day full of dreams, hoping to make them come true soon.
Our association supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day to share dreams.
This press release is a dream of the Picture Book Professional Association.
⬛️I want children to feel hopeful about their future and dream about their lives.
While the birthrate is declining, the number of problems faced by children is increasing.
Among them, approximately 300,000 people are refusing to attend school, which is the highest ever.
Furthermore, 30% of these people become hikikomori, which, when combined with other factors, is estimated to be approximately 1.46 million people. Approximately half of the cases are for more than five years, and the length of the period has become a social problem. If you had the power to carve your own life again, wouldn’t you be able to go to school or work in society instead of becoming a shut-in?
* My dream is for children to have the strength to overcome their challenges no matter how many times they stop, feel hope for their future, and realize the society they dream of in their lives. *
* ⬛️I can believe in the power of picture books when I see my child go from not attending school to being active in society*
The reason I strongly believe that reading aloud in early childhood fosters children’s will to live and creates a foundation for their lives is because of my son, who went from not attending school to entering the workforce and carving out a life for himself. . (Publication has been obtained with the consent of the person)
When my son was in the second year of junior high school, he developed “orthostatic control disorder”, an autonomic nervous system disease, and was almost unable to attend school until he graduated.
My symptoms were severe enough to require hospitalization, and I thought I might never be able to work again.
When I was a toddler, I read to myself before going to bed at night, and I kept repeating simulated experiences.
It gave me the strength to survive life, and I gained experience working as a cafe manager, and was able to play an active role in society.
Therefore, I wanted to ask the teachers who read aloud to children every day at childcare centers to lend their support, but there was a problem.
⬛️Current status and challenges of reading aloud in childcare
The graph below shows the responses of 111 childcare workers, and it shows that 80% of childcare students read aloud in childcare settings without having mastered the basics.
Even in childcare training, there is a current situation where other training is given priority.
There is not enough awareness of the fact that picture books have a huge impact on children’s mental growth, and that they need to be specialized in learning about them.
⬛️ [Certified Reading School] Become a finalist in the business contest
We have devised a project to certify schools in which homeroom teachers at kindergartens, nursery schools, certified children’s schools, etc. become certified story-telling instructors, and where kindergartens and parents work together in reading aloud, and preparations are currently underway.
By the way, this project is * 1st! LITA Produce Co., Ltd. I‘me Business Contest 2024* * Finalist*
This project was announced at the final screening held at the Ochanomizu Tri-Edge Conference on March 20, 2024. (3rd from the right in the front row)
This is a business contest with approximately 100 participants at the venue and online.
There are “certified kindergartens” and “support kindergartens” in the story-telling business in childcare.
* [Certified school] *
– Applicable to kindergartens with 10 or more homeroom teachers. ・Homeroom teachers will take a certification course to become certified reading instructors.
・The association conducts reading training for all staff four times a year. ・Reading classes for parents will be conducted by the teacher in charge who is a certified teacher.
This will unify the reading skills.
・We will create a policy program for the school and work on it as a certified school.
[Support garden]
– Applicable to kindergartens with 10 or fewer homeroom teachers. ・The association conducts reading training for all employees twice a year.
⬛️Aiming for the future
In childcare, we will work to raise the awareness of specializing in reading aloud and raise the priority of reading training so that children’s minds can grow richer.
And [*Reading certified school*
] By rolling out the program nationwide, we hope to foster the ability to overcome problems in as many children as possible, and to halve the 30% of children who become withdrawn.*
We will realize the society we dream of in our lives. *
⬛️About Picture Book Professional Association
The Picture Book Professional Association is an association that promotes reading aloud.
Taeko Kitajima, the representative director, is a picture book reader and picture book author with 27 years of experience reading books.
In order to help children’s minds grow richly while being surrounded by the warmth of reading voices, we have started reading aloud classes at childcare departments and government agencies, as well as holding online reading seminars and training certified instructors. .
In addition, in order to serve as a bridge for people to encounter books, we regularly hold “Picture Book Reading Meetings” in
collaboration with bookstores.
There were 28 media publications about reading aloud initiatives.
The association’s original method book “*Children’s reactions change in 1 second!!︎Reading aloud that will make you want to read it again* ” (reprint) was selected as a selected book by the National School Library Association.
Now that my child is an adult, I realize the importance of interacting with picture books from early childhood.
We will work to ensure that children’s futures shine with hope.
“April Dream” will be broadcast on April 1st about the dreams that companies want to achieve in the future.
This is a project by PR TIMES.
We will seriously aim to make this dream come true.
*About details about this release*
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000004.000140391.html