They Are Helping Children to Read

READING is one of the most important skills a person can learn, unlocking many kinds of knowledge. Yet millions of youngsters, who spend much of their time glued to a television set, fail to master this skill. So they miss out on learning so many valuable things, including a knowledge of God’s purposes that comes from reading the Bible and Bible literature. Yet how can a child be taught to read?

A Christian parent from Manitoba, Canada, describes the results realized from using the publication My Book of Bible Stories in conjunction with the album of four cassette tapes of this book. The parent explains:

“Peter was four years old. His older brother and sister had both started attending school, and he remained at home. As soon as the other children would leave for school, Peter would go to the living room and put on the tape recorder the tapes of My Book of Bible Stories. At first I sat with him, and as the Bible Stories book was being read on tape I followed the words on the page with my finger. Peter caught on right away. Soon he was on his own. This continued till he started kindergarten.

“One day, while Peter was yet four years old, the teacher was taking the class for a walk, and Peter pointed out a rather wordy sign to the teacher. She said, ‘Can you read what it says?’ So Peter proceeded to read the whole thing to her. The teacher was really surprised. When she walked the class back to school, she got a book from the library and sat Peter down beside her. He read her several stories, and she was just amazed.

“Soon the word got around to the other teachers and finally to the school principal. He took Peter into his office and asked him to read to him. Another teacher was also present. They asked him how he had learned to read so well. He said his family helped him, but the Bible Stories tapes helped him the most.

“In time, other children in school heard of Peter’s ability to read and would even sneak into his class to get him to read to them, to see if what they’d heard was true. Finally the principal decided he wanted to have Peter read before the whole student body in the auditorium.

“The principal was so impressed that he phoned me. He said that usually when he phones parents he has to tell them about something bad a child has done, but this time it was to tell us how well Peter reads and how proud they were of him. He said that Peter’s voice would rise and fall as in conversation and with no hesitation at all. He proceeded to tell us that he had questioned Peter about how he learned to read and that Peter had given most of the credit to the Bible Stories tapes. He asked if Peter could read the whole Bible Stories book, and I said: ‘Yes, he can.’

“He then requested to borrow our tapes to evaluate the grade level they were. A week later he phoned and said how very impressed he was with the tapes and the fine reading on them. He requested a set of tapes for himself because he was going to show them to his nieces and nephews.”

Do you know of a child that could learn to read, or improve in reading ability, by listening to Bible accounts while following along, word for word, in the publication from which the reading was being done? “We are delighted at the help the tapes have been to us,” writes the couple from Manitoba, Canada, “and would certainly recommend that other parents use them.”