A Brighter Future — for Indian Children
The youth unemployment rate currently sits at 74.5 million worldwide, highlighting the great need for programs that help youth, especially in developing countries, empower themselves by gaining vocational skills and the ability to make educated work and life choices.
Currently in New Delhi, India, around 1.8 million people live in slum areas where high crime rates, violence and minimal access to food and clean water are the norm. In one of these sprawling slums, New Seemapuri, poverty stricken children are reduced to ‘rag-picking’, the act of sifting through garbage for materials to sell and recycle to survive.
Understanding the risks, lack of education and need for youth skills in this area, we opened a vocational training center to empower young people and help them cultivate the skills that can put them on track for a brighter future.
Ways to develop your child’s reading skills:
Many parents read stories to their children when they are too young to read for themselves. As your children get older, instilling a love of reading can be crucial to their language skills, independence, and emotional development.
As your child is learning to read, or if they struggle with reading on their own, there are many things that you as a parent can do to help improve their abilities.
- Establish a regular reading routine:If your child has not yet learned to read, incorporating a daily story time routine into their schedule will instill the importance of reading that they will hopefully continue to appreciate as they learn to read on their own.
As your child does learn to read on their own, you can continue your daily or nightly story time together. - Encourage your child to read on a regular basis:There are two very effective ways to encourage your child to read regularly. One is to make books available everywhere in your home. Lure your child into stories by having books on shelves or in baskets in rooms throughout your home. Having books at their reading level available in the car, in the bathroom, next to their bed, and even in the living room next to the TV will signal to your child that reading is important and easily accessible.
- Stay involved in your child’s reading education: Teachers may not always know when your child first begins to fall behind in their reading skills. Some children are able to mask their difficulties, particularly in group settings, and may be too embarrassed to ask for help even if they know that they need it.
Don’t wait until the problem becomes serious to take action. Staying involved and monitoring your child’s progress on a regular basis can help you to stay ahead of and potential reading issues before they surface. - Set a good example: Children commonly copy the behaviour of their parents. Therefore, if they see you regularly picking up a book, your child may be more likely to do the same. Talk to them about what you are reading, the characters you have met and what you think might happen next, and encourage them to do the same.
