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Being able to read is one thing, but when it comes to a child’s development, cultivating the willingness to read is far more crucial. And experts say reading aloud to children is the best way to do this.

This is what Reading Bugs is all about. “We’re not teaching the kids to read. We’re teaching them to want to read,” said Roosie Setiawan, one of the founders of the community.

Established in March 2008, the local organization promotes the importance of reading aloud to children. Roosie said they do this mainly through workshops that teach parents and teachers the importance of the activity and techniques to do it well.

Earlier this year, Reading Bugs held workshops for parents who are members of McDonald’s parent-child program McKids. Over two months the reading community visited more than 30 stores in the greater Jakarta area.

One member, Josephine Setyarini, said that when Reading Bugs read an excerpt from the novel “Laskar Pelangi” (“Rainbow Troops”) aloud to first-grade students at Citra Alam elementary school it was greeted with enthusiasm.

“One of the students cried,” she said. “Reading aloud makes studying more fun for the students.”

Reading Bugs also recommends teachers begin their classes by reading aloud. “Starting the class by reading something aloud is much better than asking the students ‘where’s your homework?’ ” Josephine said.

In July, in cooperation with the Education Ministry and other sponsors, Reading Bugs held a “Library Holiday Program,” where participants were introduced to the ministry’s library and other reading activities. About 200 children participated during the three-week event.

“This kind of activity should be held by all the libraries in Indonesia,” Roosie said. “People rarely go to the library here.”

On the first Saturday of each month Reading Bugs also holds a gathering at the Education Ministry building in South Jakarta for discussions about the group and its programs.

The idea behind Reading Bugs was greatly influenced by Jim Trelease’s best-selling book “The Read-Aloud Handbook,” which advocates the benefits of reading aloud to children. First released in 1982, millions of copies have been sold worldwide, including translations in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.

On Dec. 22, 2008, coinciding with Mother’s Day, Reading Bugs launched the Indonesian translation of Trelease’s book. The community also purchased 1,000 copies of the book to distribute free to schools. The costs were covered by the Rp 72 million they had raised from donors, including personal friends and companies.

Aside from schools, Reading Bugs also targets institutions that implement programs from Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini (Early Childhood Education), a community-level pre-school program for children between zero and 6 years old.

Roosie said there were four key reasons why being read to was important for a child’s development.

First, the sounds and words that come out of the parent’s mouth stimulate the child’s brain development. “If we don’t stimulate the child’s brain development from an early age, it won’t grow in as healthy a way as it can,” Roosie said.

Second, reading aloud introduces the child to the first stage of early literacy skills development, which is listening. Listening is the first step a child takes before they are able to master speaking, reading and writing, according to Roosie.

Third, the activity provides an opportunity for parent-child bonding. “When parents read a book to their child, that would be the only thing they would be focusing on,” she said, and explained that reading aloud builds the relationship between the parents, the child and the book.

Fourth, it gives the children a role model for learning to read. “When the parents read to their child, the child will learn and imitate how to read from them,” Roosie said.

She added that this activity can be effective because human beings are innately pleasure focused. “Reading aloud allows the parents to create a fun environment by choosing a fun story,” she said.

And because reading is an activity that needs lots of training it has to begin at an early age, Roosie said. “Ninety percent of brain development is reached between the age of zero and six. Parents should start reading stories to their children during pregnancy.”

She expressed concern about the state of the reading culture in Indonesia and said that reading aloud should become a national movement. “A lot of people complain that there aren’t enough books here,” Roosie said. “But let’s say we have the books, what’s the point of having them when the interest in reading is so low?”

Roosie said the ultimate goal of Reading Bugs was “to spread the reading virus.”

For more information

www.readingbugs.org