Mumbai: The Somaiya School kicked off the literary week today with fun filled activities, such as book reading sessions by renowned authors for the tiny tots from pre-primary and primary, learning to create a blog for the secondary class children,enactment shows,book mark making and book cover designing competition. The celebrations will continue up to the 7th of the month.

Various activities are being organized to enhance the skills in English like reading, speaking, writing, listening and usage of grammar. The purpose is to infuse the students with appreciation, understanding, love for reading and usage of the English language in their daily life. One of the highlights of the event planned is the Role Play where the students dress up as their favorite characters from books

Speaking about the initiative, Parveen Shaikh, Head – Pre Primary & Primary, The Somaiya School said, “Reading is the necessary food for thought. Books are the much needed fuel for mental stimulation. At the Somaiya School, the habit of reading is cultivated and nurtured in fun ways. Innovative ways such as Sherlock Holmes treasure hunt to introduce the mystery books of Conan Doyle to students, getting ‘caught reading’ stickers as reinforcement when a student is seen reading are just some of the ways. Literary Week is an innovative way to introduce the joy of reading to reluctant readers. The grade 8 students reinforced this idea through their enactment of Roald Dahl poem -the Television “So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Research suggests that reading enhances vocabulary, imagination, focus, concentration as well as memory, analytical and thinking skills. A child who learns to appreciate books will never be bored or lonely”

Mrs. Kavita Vaidya Principal,The Somaiya School said, “Reading is the basic foundation on which academic skills of an individual are built. Our objective of the literary week is to inculcate reading habits within children which in turn will develop their vocabulary, it helps them to use creative thinking, and to understand and absorb new information, and concepts at school”

One of the guest authors who conducted a book reading session for the primary children, Natasha Sharma, author of the children’s book ‘Squiggle takes a walk said “Reading is extremely important, as if there is an environment created by the parents at home and by the school, it gives children the opportunities to read by exposing them to an environment that consists of books. For schools to be encouraging reading books is the best possible initiative that a society can hope for. Benefits of inculcating reading habits are truly limitless. It encourages imagining and free thinking creativity. It is the basis of anything that they will do in life. They learn to be innovative and think freely without constraints. It enhances our language which is very important, since language is the way we express ourselves and in anything that we do today. Language has become a cornerstone of how you really communicate effectively. Above all it’s something wonderful, because wherever you are you are never left alone, when you are with a book, you can just disappear into a world and be content and have that quiet space which is a big thing today”