Laughter and excitement filled the air at several children’s homes and schools islandwide, as a team from the Child Development Agency (CDA) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information visited and participated in Read Across Jamaica Day, observed recently (May 3) for the benefit of children.
Read Across Jamaica Day was in tandem with the activities currently being carried out in commemoration of National Child Month, observed in May of each year.
The day’s observance saw Youth Minister, Floyd Green, Chief Executive Officer of the CDA, Rosalee Gage-Grey; Director of Children and Family Programmes, Audrey Budhi; Internal Auditor, Bandoley McLeod; CDA’s Public Relations Unit; media personality, Emprezz Golding and others conducting interactive reading sessions with children at the Maxfield Park Children’s Home, Central Branch Infant School in Kingston; Glenhope and Sunshine Child Care facilities and others.
During the sessions, children were given educational materials in celebration of child month.
Relating her experience while reading to the children, CEO of CDA, Mrs. Rosalee Gage-Grey said that, each session provided an opportunity for the team to interact with the children, citing the importance of reading, which helps to shape young minds.
It was an excellent experience, and a joy to see the smiles on the children’s faces during the sessions. You could see how much they appreciated us being there, and we are very elated having played a role in this regard,” the CEO said.
Mrs. Gage-Grey is encouraging parents to spend more time reading to their children, because it provides an opportunity for bonding, which is a meaningful way of developing healthy relationships between parent and child.
“Getting children involved in reading from early in life helps to instill a thirst for knowledge and supports their overall development in the long run”, Mrs. Gage-Grey said.
She said that the Agency is committed to playing its part in ensuring that children in State care are literate, in keeping with our mandate – to provide quality service to children in need of care and protection.
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