Barb Galessiere, Curriculum Support Teachers For Literacy And Assessment

Reading can transport a student into a new world of imagination and it also has great cognitive benefits.

Barb Galessiere, Curriculum Support Teacher for Literacy and Assessment with the Hanover School Division explains students who read are able to do better in school and have a greater understanding of the world around them.  She says there's also an increase in vocabularly, study skills and focus.  Galessiere notes you're never too old to get benefits out of reading.

"Reading is the way that we find out information.  We read it online, we read it in texts.  But reading benefits everybody.  We always say it's a 'cradle to the grave skill' and the more you read the better off you'll be.  It doesn't matter whether you read later on in life.  We find adults who start reading more just have better mental elasticity, better memories and just more knowledge of the world around them."

She suggests for students to read fifteen to twenty minutes a day and for parents to ask them to explain what they've read to help them process and focus on the information.

When asked if she reads, Galessiere notes she loves to read and tries to read a book for pleasure every week and a book for work every two weeks.  She feels it's sometimes a challenge but also wants to be a good role model for young people.  Galessiere says her favorite all-time book of the universe is 'Gone With The Wind' by Margaret Mitchell.

Galessiere feels if a child doesn't appear to like reading they may not have found the right text yet.  She adds being able to find every child she's met a book that is the key to their heart, where they come away saying 'I really liked that book!'