The Story Explorers Club’s mission:
To help build awareness of the importance of reading and writing, not just for educational purposes, but for children’s personal development; by encouraging them to express their feelings through creative writing and reading which in turn allows them to build on their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Combining my MA in Creative Writing and being an Independent Usborne Organiser, ‘The Story Explorers Club’ was born.
(A huge thank you to my girlie friends for helping to choose a good name! A huge thank you to Kelly Fairhurst, from Page2Stage Performing Arts/Parties, it has to be said she is a creative genius!)
Credit: Minette Riordan
The books that have been created by Usborne work perfectly with The Story Explorers Club, not only were they awarded the IPG Children’s Publisher and Independent Publisher of the Year awards, the mission of the company is the reason I’m proud to be part of the Usborne Books at Home and School Team:
The future of our world depends on the education of our children. Usborne Books & More delivers educational excellence one book at a time. We provide economic opportunity while fostering strong family values. We touch the lives of children for a lifetime.[1]
As I’ve stated in my Primary Times editorial (which will be coming out soon): One of the things I love about Usborne is their ability to follow the curriculum but still have a range of books that hold the attention of the reader. However, although it’s important to follow the curriculum, there has been plenty of research on reading and it was found that, ‘Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002)’[2]
Jonathan Douglas, the director of the NLT (National Literacy Trust), also states, ‘The reading for pleasure habit, I firmly believe, can only be built by giving youngsters the sort of books that interest them. So school libraries, for instance, should not only stock books that support the curriculum, but also books that match pupils’ own interests, sparking their enthusiasm for reading and books. If that means car manuals or books about football, then so be it.’[3]
It is important that the books from school, that do follow the curriculum, are read and discussed, but there is an added advantage of reading other books with your child that will not only widen their knowledge but stimulate their passion for learning.
I’m really hoping ‘The Story Explorers Club’ will bring passion to young people for reading and enable them to find their own inner strength to be as creative as they would like to be. Thank you for reading.
Love
Vicky
xx
[1] http://www.usbornebooksandmore.com/home/NewConsultant.aspx
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284286/reading_for_pleasure.pdf
[3] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10035473/The-importance-of-instilling-a-need-to-read.html