Milannio (9) lets out a shout: “Look, boys!” He has found the crook in the book Alphabet by Charlotte Dematons steals all the letters. On a search plate, the crook with his striped suit has hidden between objects and animals that start with the letter D. “Dragon,” Milannio points out. “Do you see any more words with the D?” asks ‘reading media consultant’ Barthe van Horik. They are in the library of the Dr. A. van Voorthuysenschool, a school for special education in the Charlois district of Rotterdam. Safa (9), who is sitting next to him, raises her hand, she wants to help. “Dinosaur,” she says. But Milannio is already a page further. “E,” he says. He found the crook immediately. “There!” he points. “You naughty!”
The Van Voorthuysen School teaches children who have great difficulty learning. They have an intellectual disability and/or autism. Van Horik, who works at the Rotterdam Library, regularly comes to school to get students enthusiastic about reading. This collaboration between schools and libraries, the Library at School, is a national approach supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
There are cuddly toys that go with the books among the books in the school library. Milannio brandishes a crocheted thug in a striped suit. Safa wants to hold him too. They each pull to one side. “Ow ow,” Safa shouts. “Be careful, right?” says Van Horik. “Are you getting angry with me now?” asks Milannio. “No, I don’t get angry that easily.”
Many books for beginning readers are aimed at children aged six. But if you’re eight or nine, you don’t like that
Van Horik manages six schools for special education in Rotterdam. She helps, among other things, to keep their library current and varied. Pointing to some empty shelves: “Last year we got rid of a lot of books that were out of date.” Now she is helping to replenish the collection.
There are mainly picture books and booklets for beginning readers. “This is because our students only learn to read at a later age,” explains teaching assistant Kirsten van der Hoek, who is the school’s reading coordinator. “What is difficult: many books for beginning readers are aimed at six-year-old children. But imagine if you are eight or nine, you will not find anything useful about that. It is very nice that the library can support us in finding books that match their experience.”
Van Horik works at the Rotterdam Library and regularly comes to school to get students enthusiastic about reading.
Photo Sebiha Oztas
The Library at School delivers a box of books to each class four times a year. “The differences in level between the children are large, even within classes,” says Van Horik. “I will take that into account.”
Books that are specially written for children with reading difficulties or children who do not like reading are very suitable for this target group. Van Horik: “They have: not too much text on one page, large letters and lots of pictures.” Children with an autism spectrum disorder like to read informative books, she knows. “There are also informative books that are written in story form. They are funny or exciting, but the facts in them are correct.”
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The school library door opens. A girl from group 8 comes to return a book she borrowed that morning. It’s about volcanoes. “Out already?” asks Van Horik. “And can you tell us something about it? What is in the volcano?” The girl thinks. “Custard?” she suggests. “It looks like custard,” says Van Horik. She opens the book and points to the page. “Look, here it is.” “La-va,” reads the girl. “Good, learned something again.”
The children are in smaller classes than in a regular primary school: eight to a maximum of thirteen students. They need a predictable environment and a lot of structure. Each class also has a teaching assistant. The teaching team tries to give the children positive experiences. The goal is for them to ultimately be able to manage as independently as possible. That is why it is important that they also learn to read, if that is within their capabilities.
You can also increase their vocabulary by talking about picture books together
Teaching assistant Sonja Trommel shows how that works. In the hallway of her classroom she lays out laminated A4 sheets with a letter on each sheet: KAM. She stands at the K and claps her hands. “K,” she says. Then she jumps to A and claps her hands again. “A,” she says. She does the same with the M. Then she brings her hands together above her head and says “comb.” The students must imitate this. This way they learn that you can build words from individual letters.
‘Cut and paste’, a method to teach children how to make one word from individual letters.
Photos Sebiha Oztas
Some students do not learn to read. “You can also increase their vocabulary by talking about picture books together,” says Van Horik. “It is important that they learn to express themselves as best as possible.”
She also conducts ‘reading conversations’ with children, filling the table in the school library with books. Just make two piles, she says, with ‘like’ and ‘dislike’. “This way I find out whether they can already read a little on their own and what interests they have.” When Safa made a pile, she classified everything as ‘nice’. But Van Horik also often sees frustration among students with reading, because they cannot do it well themselves. “What I do then is read aloud. I mainly try to rekindle their enjoyment.” She has never experienced a child who wanted nothing to do with books at all. “All children love stories.”
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