Reading and doing good | Volunteering opportunities for bookworms
More than a half of the people in Germany read regularly, a fifth even daily. This is excellent, because reading is proven to be healthy – a good book is like medicine. A study by Yale University shows that regular reading can prolong life. Why is that? Regular reading stimulates the brain cells and thus trains cognitive abilities and concentration. It stimulates the imagination, helps to relax and thus reduces stress.
However, reading does not only have positive effects – except that it is fun – for adults. Reading and also listening to a book is extremely important for the development of children. Children who are regularly read to not only have a larger vocabulary, but also on average have better grades and have more fun with texts. This in turn leads to more self-confidence for many children. Unfortunately, one third of all parents in Germany rarely or never read aloud to their children (aged between two and eight years). This makes it especially nice when children are introduced to reading in other ways, be it in kindergarten, primary school or through other programmes run by social organisations.
If you are a bookworm yourself, you know how enriching reading can be – no matter how old you are or what experiences you have had in life. Because for every age, every situation in life and every interest there is the right book. Just in time for the International Book Lover’s Day, we present 5 projects through which you can share and pass on your enthusiasm for reading to other people.
1 | READING ALOUD FOR CHILDREN IN NEUKÖLLN
BERLIN NEUKÖLLN
Helping children who do not have access to books and imaginative stories in their everyday lives to start reading. For its book readings in the “Guten Seite” at Richardplatz, the Solidarische Nachbarschaft in the Richardkiez is looking for supporters who would like to read aloud to children.
2 | READING ALOUD FOR CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE DEFICITS
FRANKFURT AM MAIN
You enjoy reading aloud and love literature? Then maybe you would like to read aloud for children with language deficits! In this way, you can promote concentration, memory, vocabulary and the ability to express themselves, thus helping the children to achieve more self-determination. You can also support the AWO Frankfurt project together with friends!
3 | BECOMING A “LESEHELD*IN” FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
HAMBURG
The non-profit organisation KinderHelden is looking for voluntary mentors who want to support Hamburg primary school children with difficult starting conditions. Through the project “LeseTandem+” the children receive reading and leisure time mentors who accompany them for one year and specifically promote their reading skills.
4 | READING IN DIALOGUE WITH REFUGEES
COLOGNE
As a reading mentor you will meet regularly with a person with a migration biography. You read together and communicate with each other. In this way you learn from each other and benefit from the shared experience. Sounds good? Then get in touch with the Büro für Bürgerengagement der AWO Köln.
5 | READ ALOUD FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
MUNICH
Support the Lesefüchse e.V. and read aloud for primary school children who are not or hardly ever read to at home. In this way, you encourage them to enjoy the medium of books and motivate them to read for themselves. Furthermore, the children can expand their vocabulary in a playful way.
Would you like to discover even more volunteering opportunities? Then have a look at vostel.de!
Have fun reading! Your team from vostel.de
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