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Family Literacy Day is held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family.
Although officially a one-day event organized by ABC Life Literacy Canada, many AVRSB schools celebrated the importance—and joy of—reading and family literacy with a full week of events from January 23 to 27.
Students at Glooscap Elementary School celebrated Family Literacy week by welcoming guest readers to every classroom. The guests included retired teachers, Northeast Kings Education Centre staff, local politicians and a pastor. Each guest read to a class of students and talked with them about the importance of reading and text in their lives. They also said they would be happy to visit the school again, since the students were such a receptive and respectful audience!
At Aldershot Elementary School, Librarian Christine Davis and school staff planned a week of events during school hours and after school, in order to involve families. Events included sessions with a local author, an evening pyjama party and story time for younger students and their families, plus a games night for older students and their families. Davis said the school would even take advantage of its temporary location in the former KCA building by offering an evening cooking lesson for families, noting that reading a recipe is a great family literacy activity.
Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to a child’s development. Even just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well.
There are many ways to strengthen your family’s literacy skills—all it takes is practicing for 15 minutes every day by reading, writing, playing a game, following a recipe, making a grocery list together, or even singing a song.