The “All of Polonia Reads to Children” project, co-financed from the funds granted by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a new initiative of the Polish national campaign “All of Poland Reads to Kids” aimed at strengthening activities which promote reading to children in the Polish diaspora. More than 60 persons from educational institutions and organizations from nine countries: Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA, were invited to participate in the project that started on March and will last until October 2013. The first part of the project consisted of a four-month e-learning course, “Education by Reading”, and an online training on tools and the methodology of conducting the reading campaign. This “know-how” training included online consultations with Foundation’s experts as well as Polish authors of children’s literature. Afterwards, participants, as coordinators of the reading campaign abroad, conduct in their institutions free reading events for children and educational presentations for parents on the role of the language and literature in the child’s development and the need to teach children values.
The first free reading events took place in New York, Chicago, Bristol, Madrid and Barcelona. Soon there will be more such meetings in Campiglia dei Berici, Udine, Naples, Savignano sul Panaro, Bergen, Toulouse, Den Haag, Clonmel and Dundalk.
As part of the project, Irena Koźmińska, Foundation’s President, and Elżbieta Olszewska, Foundation’s Program Director, visit several Polish communities abroad to deliver lectures. The goal is to promote regular reading to children at homes as well as institutions taking part in the project and to start an ongoing program “All of Polonia Reads to Children”.
“ABCXXI – All of Poland Reads to Kids” Foundation has been cooperating with more than 30 Polish institutions and organizations abroad where Leaders and Coordinators conduct the reading-to-children campaign. For a long time, they have indicated the urgent need to strengthen the promotion of reading in Polish and have requested the Foundation to provide training and educational materials as well as Polish books, said Joanna Górska, Coordinator of the “All of Polonia Reads to Children” project.
In the recent years, the Foundation has actively supported the launching of similar reading campaigns in the Czech Republic (Celé Česko čte dětem), Slovakia (Celé Slovensko čita deťom) and Lithuania (Visa Lietuva skaito vaikams). International conferences on the importance of reading to children and teaching them values with lectures by Irena Koźmińska and Elżbieta Olszewska were organized in Cesky Cieszyn (2008), Ostrava (2012) and Vilnius (2012). Furthermore, seven-year cooperation with the Czech Foundation Celé Česko čte dětem resulted in the joint organization of the First International Week of Reading to Children held on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic in Cieszyn and Cesky Tesin. The event was supported by the European Union. Moreover, the “Little Prince Foundation”, closely cooperating with the Polish Consulate in Vilnius, promotes the Foundation’s programs “Reading Schools” and “Reading Kindergartens” in Polish schools in Lithuania.
“ABCXXI – All of Poland Reads to Kids” Foundation, established in December 1998, supports the psychological, mental and moral health of children and adolescents through educational and promotional activities. In 2001, the Foundation launched the national campaign, “All of Poland Reads to Kids”, which raises the social awareness of the vital importance of reading to children for their comprehensive development. The Foundation has implemented a number of large projects such as National Weeks of Reading to Children, “Wise Education” conferences and workshops covering topics such as the emotional needs of children, education by reading and teaching values. Concerned about the quality of culture addressed to the young generation, the Foundation is conducting literary projects, among them the 23-volume collection of books “All of Poland Reads to Kids” issued jointly with the Polityka weekly and the Astrid Lindgren Literary Competitions for Contemporary Book for Children and Adolescents. In 2012, the Foundation “ABCXXI – All of Poland Reads to Kids” launched the Internet University of Wise Education, offering e-learning courses on reading, teaching values and other issues.