Mem Fox

We were really privileged to attend a talk by Mem Fox on Tue night.

Mem Fox is something of an icon here. She's a bestselling Australian children's writer and literacy educator. She goes round Australia and USA preaching the importance of reading aloud to children. She is most famous for her book Possum Magic.

I've never read her books, although I've heard her name mentioned since Beth was at kinder.

Beth's class watched the Possum Magic musical a few months ago at the Wyndham Cultural Centre.

From all accounts, the kids loved it.

What I took away from the talk were three things:

a. We read aloud to children for their hearts, their brains, their words and their futures.

b. It's very sad that babies as little as 3 weeks old are placed in day care, where there is no one to touch them and read aloud to them and stimulate their little brains. (This was really a side point. Mem was trying to clarify what she'd actually said which the newspapers had misquoted and sensationalised. The unfortunate result was that she was portrayed as "slamming childcare" and working mothers went up in arms at being criticized by Mem.)

c. Babies are born with 25% of their brain developed. To help the brain develop, we need to stimulate the baby through its five senses. Reading aloud is a very good way to stimulate the baby. A baby who receives proper stimulation will be more likely to be clever and happy. If we can help our children be clever and happy just by reading aloud to them, why wouldn't we?