Why We Started A Free Silent Reading Hour For Kids

Most children's programming in Lagos and Abuja is built around doing something visibly active: painting, building, performing. Silent Book Club Jr. does the opposite on purpose.

For one hour, every Friday, children gather with a book and read. No instructor leading an activity, no finished product to show for it at the end, just a room of children reading quietly alongside each other. It sounds almost too simple to build a programme around, and that is exactly the point.

Children today have very few unscheduled hours, and even fewer that involve sustained attention on a single thing without a screen nearby. A silent reading hour gives them practice at something increasingly rare: sitting with one idea for longer than a few minutes, without anyone asking what they are learning from it.

We keep it free because cost should not be the reason a child misses an hour that costs us very little to offer and gives back more than most paid activities we run. Painting afterwards is available for anyone who wants to stay, but it has never been the point.

If your child finds it hard to sit still, that is not a reason to skip it. It is usually the best reason to try.