Start a fun, literacy-filled tradition with your child

Each year on Jan. 27, libraries and other literacy organizations celebrate Family Literacy Day with an organization called ABC Life Literacy Canada. As they explain, “taking time every day to read or do an activity with children is crucial to a child’s development, improving a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well.”

A public library membership is the perfect first step in developing a lifetime of learning. The public library is the perfect place for children to follow their interests and discover the books they are truly interested in reading. They can borrow an armload of books and follow their interests from dinosaurs to Ancient Egypt and so many more topics. With the help of a parent or caregiver, children are free to borrow books on any subject of interest – and it is often surprising what appeals. I know one young man who was a true farm equipment devotee as a toddler, and he pored over tractor magazines and catalogues with great interest.

The 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program is an ideal way to get young children interested in reading. By challenging them to read 1000 books before starting school, you’re committing to making literacy and reading an important part of those valuable childhood years. Of course, many toddlers insist on reading the same book over and over again, and the program recognizes the value in repetition by encouraging you to count each time a title is read. It’s completely free to join at any branch of the library.

Nancy Puddy, the volunteer program coordinator, sends out seasonal email letters with easy and low-cost literacy activities you can try. Many of the activities she recommends use materials you already have at home, and they’re evocative of the activities ABC Life Literacy Canada suggest for Family Literacy Day.

In fact, they state that the “kitchen is the best classroom in the house” as cooking and eating together naturally weaves reading, writing, math, science and communication into everyday life. Baking cookies, for example, can include measuring quantities, keeping track of time, debating what kind of cookies to make, and best of all – a tangible reward at the end of the project. The public library has a number of excellent children’s cookbooks you can borrow, which young chefs or bakers can explore.

Storytimes at the library are another keystone of early literacy. With programs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. at the Picton Branch Library and Saturday mornings at the Wellington Branch, there are lots of opportunities to come together with other young learners for a story. The five early literacy practices identified by the American Library Association – talking, singing, reading, writing and playing – are part of each story time at the library.

Visit your local library this Family Literacy Day, pick up a few books, and start a fun, literacy-filled tradition with your child today.