Introduction

The Shia Ismaili Muslims are a community of ethnically and culturally diverse peoples living in over 25 countries around the world, united in their allegiance to His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (known to the Ismailis as Mawlana Hazar Imam) as the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader), and direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).

 

Articles related to: Reading and Literacy

Books, bonding, and new beginnings

Book club members gather at a book signing event. (L to R: Shabina Premji, Zahra Dedhar, Shyna Dhanani and Shairose Gulamani.). Photo: Courtesy of Shairose Gulamani

It is a little past three in the morning on a foggy, Seattle Sunday, but a group of women are already armed and ready with a carpool list, tea, and that month’s novel tucked under their arms. Since February 2009, the book club’s members meet every first Sunday of the month to discuss books as varied and diverse as the women in their group.

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Jamati reading programmes promote critical thinking in children

Students at the Learning Center for Parents and Children programme, together with their teacher Munira Sadruddin and her assistant Sarah Ali. Photo: Courtesy of Sarah Ali

Across the United States and Canada, year-round programmes in various Jamatkhanas encourage critical thinking and nurture a love of reading among children. In celebration of Reading Month, TheIsmaili.org is also pleased to highlight a number of web-based tools and resources to help parents enhance their children’s literacy.

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Cultivating a love of reading in young children

Keyaan Jaffer reads “Brown Bear” to his younger brother, Mikyle. Photo: Rahim Jaffer

Children enter the world eager to learn, and research shows that when parents read daily to their children — especially in the first five years of their life — it promotes language acquisition, literacy development, and academic success at school. In celebration of Reading Month, TheIsmaili.org explores the experiences of many Ismaili families who read to their children.

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The magic of reading: A mother’s account

Little Aanyah Abdullah discovers the magic of reading. Photo: Shaila Abdullah

Novelist Shaila Abdullah tells how just as her parents cultivated a love of books in her from a young age, she in turn shared this love with her daughter, Aanyah, from the moment she was born. Today, at six-years-old, Aanyah is the one reading to her mother!

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Talking the talk early in life

 Photo: quil / SXC

Research shows that young children are not just capable of learning several languages — they are hard-wired to do so. And being multilingual has cognitive and intellectual benefits that extend beyond the basic advantage of knowing another language.

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