It is about special friendships too!
As the zoom meeting gets started, the waiting room quickly fills up with young readers. Everyone is on time. We are meeting to have fun with books, words, news, a little play and lots more.
Any new reader who joins is at first skeptical. A few sessions and they begin to settle and understand that this is a collaborative session. The teacher isn't the one always talking. There is plenty of room for self expression. It is ok to make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes but everyone supports one another. As time passes, a special camaraderie begins to grow. Children begin to get free with one another. Organic conversations begin to flow between them especially when they find others reading books that they have recommended.
Last evening was one such special moment. Rick Riordon's books are making rounds at the club ever since one reader talked about a book from the Percy Jackson series. One of the readers excitedly shared that he had gone to the book fair in his city and managed to get a good set of books. Amongst those were books from the Percy Jackson series. That set in motion a conversation between two readers, one among which had read many from the series. She eagerly asked if he had read certain books from the series and shared how much she enjoyed them.
That little conversation was followed by another reader showing what he had worked on during the Christmas break. He had built a complex car model. While the group watched in awe, he spoke about the highlights of the car, the axle that worked and even showcased the engine which worked on kinetic energy. Just like that a little science too got explored in the process of casual conversations. These are moments that make being a part of the Young Readers' Club truly special!
What began as a program to encourage children to read for pleasure has evolved to become a social platform for young readers to meet, exchange book recommendations and share reading experiences. Reading can have its ups and downs. But being a part of a supportive community of readers helps especially when one is unable to move forward with a book or one is in reading lull. We look forward to many more such memorable moments this year.
Weekday batches are available at the Young Readers' Club for the 8-12 age group to enable to unwind with reading after a long day at school.
Writing programs for the 8-12 age group- Young Writers' Club Jr. also have a group discussion component in which we talk sometimes about the news, sometimes it is visual thinking activity and sometimes it is a discussion based on a particular writing aspect. All of the discussion subjects are handpicked to come in handy in their writing journeys. Ideas are everywhere, if you care to look :)
The Young Writers' Club program for the 13-15 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.
NEW! Tween Tribune is an online magazine for the Young Writers' Club (Jr.) program for tweens. Weekly updates of our discussions are published. Once in 6 months, the best of writing by the tween members is made available to read.
NEW! Musings from the Young Writers' Club is an online magazine showcasing the work we do at the Young Writers' Club.
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