“Reading Plus has not just met and exceeded my reading expectations; it has gone above and beyond.” – Fatma, Y9, from Safa British School, Dubai.
Do you dislike reading? I did, but not anymore. Reading Plus improved my life, making me want to read just for the pleasure of doing so. I wouldn’t say I liked the programme at first, but once you start reading the texts, you get deeply engrossed in them, advancing levels and getting combos, and you want to keep reading and reading.
I grew up in the UAE and didn’t read much English until I started at Safa British School. My teachers always encouraged me to read, and I was enthralled by fiction books and specific authors like Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy. All my primary school life, I read daily and repeatedly wrote story after story. My parents always supported me, and because of them, I was able to meet many inspirational people that influenced me to write and publish a book.
My interests changed when I started secondary school; I had completely stopped reading by the end of my first year of secondary school.
I despised reading. However, this is when my school acquired Reading Plus. When I heard about it, I didn’t expect much, thinking it was just an ordinary reading app I would only use for homework. But, I quickly realised it was a lot more than that. With Reading Plus, you can read for hours and hours without getting bored. It truly helped me realise that I couldn’t just waste my reading potential.
The books on Reading Plus weren’t just any ordinary school books. They were captivating and enlightened me with life knowledge and facts every time I read.
My favourite books were mystery and adventure books; I could never put my device down after reading them. Despite non-fiction being my least favourite genre, the Reading Plus non-fiction books covered a wide range of different and interesting topics. I learned many facts from every genre on Reading Plus. Numerous students think that reading just helps your writing and speaking, but Reading Plus taught me science, art, technology, history and much more!
Despite many people being astonished and bewildered that I had completed the programme in 4 weeks, in all truth, I had no idea that I was reading so many books per day! I did it because I enjoyed reading the books on the programme. I opened the website daily, excited to continue reading or start a new book. I was reading everywhere – at home, school, relatives’ houses, shops, whilst sitting at the doctor’s office, I couldn’t stop. I would open the programme more than ten times a day!
I love that Reading Plus has various unique features that help students improve their reading and expand their interests in multiple topics and genres.
The achievement awards, progress checks and different ways of reading have undoubtedly benefited me in many ways. Reading Plus has not just met and exceeded my expectations of reading. It has gone above and beyond with its valuable aspects of reading motivation and intriguing novels and books. Thanks to Reading Plus, my reading has improved by three years, and the progress I’ve made has been outstanding. Seeing your progress data and how you have improved is thrilling.
After completing the entire programme, my subject knowledge has increased tremendously, and I’ve been able to use that knowledge in other classes. This has helped me realise that reading can help you in more than one way.
Because of the fantastic programme, Reading Plus, I am working on writing a new novel!
Authored by Fatma, Y9, from Safa British School, Dubai.