TORONTO, ON—(Marketwired – January 27, 2017) – Today across Canada families, literacy groups, schools, libraries and community organizations are gathering in their communities to celebrate the importance of literacy and learning in honour of Family Literacy Day — Canada's largest family literacy initiative.
Launched in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada, Family Literacy Day takes place annually on January 27 to encourage families to take time each day to engage in reading and other literacy–related activities together. Taking time every day to practice literacy as a family is crucial to a child's development and the benefits of spending this time together are also hugely impactful to adults' skills.
“Family Literacy Day is a wonderful opportunity for families to spend time learning together while building skills and strengthening the important family bond,” says Mack Rogers, Director of Programs at ABC Life Literacy Canada. “We are so pleased to see the growth of Family Literacy Day with activities taking place from coast–to–coast–to–coast, engaging families to incorporate learning in their daily lives.”
ABC is honoured to work with Barbara Reid, award–winning Canadian author and illustrator who is also the Honourary Chair of Family Literacy Day. In her role as Honourary Chair, Barbara is attending events, participated in a Tweet chat and also created special Family Literacy Day tips that combine literacy activities and her signature art tool, modelling clay.
“I am proud to be the Family Literacy Day Honourary Chair,” says Barbara Reid. “I have participated in Family Literacy Day events for several years and it's inspiring to connect with so many families. I encourage reading and literacy engagement through my work as an author and illustrator. Literacy connects us to the world, and it all starts in the family.”
As part of Family Literacy Day 2017, families are invited to Learn at Play Every Day with free downloadable resources and activity ideas at www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca. ABC Life Literacy Canada suggests the following ideas to embrace daily learning opportunities:
Attend a local Family Literacy Day event in your community. Visit www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca for event listings.
Write a grocery list with your child and let kids find all the items in the store — a fun way to do the grocery shopping!
Play a board game to learn together as a family. Read the instructions aloud and count how many spaces to travel around the board.
Sing along to songs on the radio. Singing encourages learning patterns of words, rhymes and rhythms, and is strongly connected to language skills.
Travel the world using your library card as your passport to check out books on different countries.
For more information, literacy resources or event listings, visit www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca.
About ABC Life Literacy Canada
ABC Life Literacy Canada is a non–profit organization that inspires Canadians to increase their literacy skills. ABC envisions a Canada where everyone has the skills they need to live a fully engaged life. For the latest news and information on adult literacy, please visit www.abclifeliteracy.ca, or stay connected with us through Twitter and Facebook. For more information about Family Literacy Day, please visit: www.FamilyLiteracyDay.ca.