It’s Family Literacy Day!
A father sits with a young infant on his lap, holding open a board book with colourful images.
It’s January 27, 2023, and that means it is Family Literacy Day! We’ve been sharing ideas and promoting literacy through play, stories, and more throughout January in on social media and in our playroom. Today, we wanted to share a few ideas and resources for you to continue to celebrate and support literacy at home.
This year’s theme is “Celebrate Your Heritage.” This theme can be explored in many different ways to suit your children’s ages and interests. On ABCLifeLiteracy’s website, you’ll find resources such as printable bookmarks and activity books to explore and work on together as a family. Family Literacy Day’s Honorary Chair Barbara Reid has created and shared a beautiful tip sheet, as well, that we encourage you to check out.
Some other ideas for celebrating your family, your children’s heritage, and literacy include:
telling stories about yourself or your family (including chosen family)
creating a new memory or family tradition that you and your children can carry forward
sharing a meal with friends or family
participating in an activity that connects your child to something that brings another family member joy (this could be cooking a specific recipe, playing a game, creating art, dancing - the sky’s the limit!)
Promoting literacy and language development can involve books and written language, but doesn’t necessarily mean sitting and looking at books together all the time. Surrounding children with the words, language, and stories of loved ones and letting them hear a large variety of language each day will help build their language and comprehension skills. Engaging in discovery activities together, like reading recipes, looking at maps, searching for information, or interviewing and recording answers helps develop a wide variety of literacy skills. Try something different with your child and see what captures their interest.
If you’d like to learn more about family literacy, visit the ABCLifeLiteracy website.
For more activities and information on Family Literacy and supporting literacy and language development at home, please explore these resources:
Family Literacy First | ABCLifeLiteracy and HSBC
Read, Speak, Sing: How parents can promote literacy from birth | Canadian Paediatric Society
Tips and Resources | Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation