do you know your ABCs?

Filed Under Stuff, Tips & Tricks | January 27, 2009

jan27_familyliteracy

What do Robert Munsch, ABC and Honda have in common? Family Literacy Day, today, January 27th. Munsch is the Honourary Chair, ABC Canada does all the organizing and Honda is the founding sponsor. Four out of 10 Canadians over 16 have challenges with literacy, but when Family Literacy is practiced it can impact your child’s academic skills – including math – and help develop their imagination and creativity.

Last weekend, ABC Canada was behind Canada’s attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “Most Children Reading With an Adult, Multiple Locations”.  They’ve submitted final numbers for examination and are waiting with bated breath to see if they’ve broken the previous record of 77, 791 set by the US in 2006.  Meanwhile, today and throughout the week there are Family Literacy Events happening all around Canada. Locally you can find events everywhere from Abbotsford to Vancouver and from elementary schools to libraries.

But family literacy is a year-round sort of thing, and it can be practiced in ways other than reading together – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Playing word games, singing, writing letters and making shopping lists together, using recipes and surfing the Net for fun sites are all everyday ways to instill a love of words in your child. You can find more useful family literacy facts on the ABC Canada site.

And if literacy is already well established in your house, why not give a hand to others by helping stock school libraries? For the rest of January you can purchase a book in honour of your child’s birthday at Once Upon a Huckleberry Bush you’ll get it at 10% discount and they’ll donate it to the school library of your choice.

Family Literacy Day: www.abc-canada.org

Looking for some new books to shake up your bedtime reading routine? We have some great suggestions for helping to add some new book blood to your home library:

 

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