Celebrate Family Literacy day!

Today is January 27th, which means it's Family Literacy Day! Today's celebration was created by ABC Life Literacy Canada, a non-profit organization, that helps spread awareness about the benefits of reading and aims to promote literacy related activities. Reading involves multiple, complex steps and is a wonderful milestone for many children, as well as a vital piece of speech and language development. By incorporating literacy activities into your home, you can help your child develop a love of reading that will last a lifetime.
​
Here are some ways to incorporate literacy activities at home:
​

For Early Learners: (Infancy to Toddlers) 
Pick books for their level 

• Use hardback, flap books, keeping young children engaged like "Dear Zoo" and "Where is the Very Hungry Caterpillar" 
• Use books with songs and simple illustrations. Repetition and rhyme is amazing for language learning! We love to read and sing the "Five Little Monkeys", "Down by the Bay" and "Baby Beluga". 

Explore books with your child 

• Practice exploring books. Help your child feel comfortable and excited about turning pages and the routine that goes along with reading. Take turns flipping pages just like you’d take turns in conversation. 
• Look at the pictures together sitting face to face. Point and make comments about WHO is in the book, WHAT we see, WHERE the characters are, HOW they are feeling and WHEN things are happening (daytime, dinnertime) rather than ask questions. This is a great way to model and introduce new vocabulary in a low pressure environment!​

For Older Learners: (School Age) 
Highlight narrative themes and sequencing in books

• Wordless picture books are a fantastic way to build narratives. The "Journey" series and "CHALK" are a couple of our favourites. 

• Bringing awareness to the plot of the story can help them understand complex situations and develop their critical thinking skills. Sequencing tasks involve attention, organization, planning, and working memory.

Make "I wonder..." or "I notice..." statements about the characters' potential feelings and the story's themes

• This encourages children to relate stories to their own lived experiences and develops empathetic and social thinking skills, emotional literacy, and theory of mind. 

Use books that will incorporate their speech and language goals, including:

• Vocabulary: While reading the story, bring attention to the new vocabulary words that your child is learning. 
• Articulation: Emphasize specific sounds they are working on producing within the story. 
• Wh-questions: Incorporate who, what, when, where questions. Give your child an opportunity to express what you've read together. If they need help, thats okay! Model what an answer to the question might be, giving them examples to build up from. 

For All Ages:
Embrace the emotions in books 

• So many children's books use humour, making children laugh by embracing their silly and fun imagination within the story. Robert Munsch books are a great example of this! 

Encourage independent reading

• Provide books about their favourite animals, plants, sports, or superheroes, giving them greater motivation to read. Give your child access to a variety of books that they find interesting and are reading level appropriate. This will help them develop their literacy skills and build their confidence. 

Read in your home language

• If you speak a language other than English at home, reading in that language can help your child develop a stronger connection to their culture and heritage. This ties into this year’s Family Literacy Day theme: “Celebrate your Heritage”. 

Encourage conversation about the story

• Reading with your child should be an interactive experience. Comment on what you think will happen next or how the character feels, where they might be going or how the story will end are some ways to encourage thoughts about the narrative story. This will also help develop their listening and comprehension skills as well. 

Where to find books?

• Check out your local library. Take out new books and see what your child likes to read without having to buy them. 
• Use YouTube! Listen to stories being read online. You can take advantage of pausing the video or maybe turning off the sound to read on the screen for yourselves. 

Here are some of our favourite books: ​

DEB:

• "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• "The Twits" by Roald Dahl

CARLA:

• ​"​Stuck" by Oliver Jeffers
• "Brief Thief" by Michael Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo 
• "Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing" by Judi & Ron Barrett

​SAM:

• the "Journey" series by Aaron Becker. "These stories are beautifully illustrated, and wordless! They are so fun to read with clients because we are forced to use our narrative imaginations, make connections, create dialogue, and solve problems alongside the characters."
• "Elephant & Piggie" books by Mo Willems. "These characters solve problems and help each other through big feelings. I love using these stories for younger readers because the pages are simply illustrated, laughs are guaranteed, and I can easily build in so many narrative skills like sequencing, WH questions, and emotional awareness."
• "Harriet Gets Carried Away" by Jessie Sima. "Harriet is determined, brave and uses her flexible brain and problem-solving skills to find her way back home to her dads in time for her birthday party. This story encourages questions about personal experiences (What is your favourite costume? Which hot air balloon would you climb into?) and is great for sequencing and new vocabulary."

LAURA:

• "Horse Meets Dog" by Elliot Kalan
• "T. Rexes Can't Tie Their Shoes" by Anna Lazowski
• "Can I Play Too?" by Mo Willems

Remember that every child develops at their own pace, and it's important to adjust these reading activities to match your child's needs and interests. With your encouragement and guidance, your child will develop their literacy skills and make their own special reading memories.  
 
Here are some additional resources to use and learn more about increasing literacy at home: 

• Supporting your Child's Language Skills When Reading 
• Early Literacy: Learning to Read
• Helpful Info: Early Literacy Corner 
• Book list targeting speech and language goals