What is marked annually as Family Literacy Day on Friday, Jan. 27 was celebrated by all schools across the Clearview division as staff and students engaged in creating awareness about the importance of reading – reading for 15 minutes.
It is a national awareness initiative created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 and held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family.
Whether it’s reading out loud or reading quietly in good company, reading is a great thing to do together, according to Peter Barron, Clearview Public Schools Superintendent.
ABC Life Literacy Canada stresses on taking time every day to do a learning activity with children, as they believe it is crucial to a child’s development.
They suggest that even just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically and can help a parent improve their skills as well.
Activities can be as easy as reading or making up a story together, playing a board game, singing a song while cleaning the house or reading the signs while riding in the car.
The organization’s family literacy programs focus on parents as the means to improve the reading and writing skills of all family members.
By reading to children and engaging in fun literacy activities, parents are actively keeping their own skills sharp while at the same time strengthening the relationship between the family which, in turn, encourages lifelong learning.