About
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Reading Roots is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering children aged 4 to 9 from lower-income families through the building of strong literacy foundations.
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2025 Recipient of Friends of MSF Award
Reading Roots is honoured to have received the Friends of MSF Award, from the Ministry of Social and Family Development, for being a community partner who has served and contributed to the cause of nurturing resilient individuals, strong families, and a caring society for three years.
VISION
Every child empowered through literacy.
MISSION
Extend help to under-resourced children so that they become effective readers. We do this by providing a systematic literacy curriculum through partnership between volunteers and parents of children in the programme.
BELIEFS
We believe:
They're essential building blocks to access new worlds.
Literacy isn't just about reading words.
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We honour their experiences, perspectives and autonomy.
In meeting children where they are.​
No contribution or achievement is too small. Simply start, fail and try again and again.
Progress trumps perfection.
These beliefs anchor how we achieve our mission and work with everyone in the Reading Roots community. Learn more about our programmes here.
OUR ROOTS
JAN 2018: Getting Started
Sowing the seeds
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The seeds for Reading Roots were sown at a Primary 1 orientation in January 2018. Our co-founder, Angie, sat with her daughter and reviewed the long list of achievements children were expected to have attained.
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She wondered what not meeting these expectations would mean, especially for children from lower-income families. With fewer opportunities to build strong foundations, they would be playing catch-up, even before school started. Recognising the gap would only widen without intervention, she knew something needed to change.
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Connecting with friends who shared her vision to plant the seeds of literacy, the founding team consulted generous individuals from the charity organisation, ReadAble, and brainstormed different ways to achieve their mission.
MAY 2019: The First Branch: MacPherson
Sprouting out
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Reading Roots was launched in May 2019 with support from MacPherson Community Centre. The pilot programme focused on early intervention.
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Through weekly Saturday morning classes facilitated by dedicated volunteers, children aged 4 to 6 learned the building blocks of literacy to better prepare for Primary 1.
Expansion to support more children
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As more children transitioned to primary school, the curriculum evolved to include support for those in lower primary (up to age 9).
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We’ve expanded our programmes many times since, growing with the children, evolving the curriculum to cater to their needs.
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In addition to narrowing the literacy gap, Reading Roots also continued to be an encouraging space for the children to build confidence as they navigated primary school.
JAN 2020: Growing with the Children
​Supporting more children in a new neighbourhood
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With support from the Dover Road Residents’ Committee, Reading Roots launched its second branch in Dover. Working with a growing pool of volunteers, we help more children build literacy foundations through weekly Saturday sessions.
JUL 2022: The Second Branch: Dover
OCT 2024: Exploring New Ways to Grow
​Connecting with supportive funders to further our mission
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With support from The Majurity Trust, we create better learning experiences, engage experts to train our volunteers and more so that we’re better equipped to serve the children.
OUR TEAM
Reading Roots is led by a dedicated core team who make key decisions together to create truly individualised learning experiences for each amazing child.
Angeline Lim (Angie)
Co-Founder & Director
Karmen Wong
Co-Founder & Lead Teacher
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Celine Tan
Co-Founder & Marketing Lead
Grace Chan
Co-Founder & Corporate Secretary/Admin
Tiffany Goh
Co-Founder & Marketing Lead
Frida Ho
Programme Manager & Lead Teacher
Our work would not be possible without our committed volunteers. We’re always looking for new volunteers to join our team. Find your place at Reading Roots here.
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