Happy New Year

I am an avid reader. When I was a girl I remember coming home to find my Mom curled up in her comfy chair lost in the world of whatever book she was reading at the time. So, today I am going to talk about Family Literacy Day.

After you read the article, take a look at some of the trips I have coming up during 2011. It may be that I will be in your region and we could arrange to work together.

Reading Matters

When I see the television ads for family literacy, I think of Winnie the Pooh. You know the ad; it shows Vancouver Canuck goalie, Roberto Luongo reading to a child.

My earliest memories of being read to are about Winnie the Pooh. I still have the books. I love the idea that the bear of very little brain was my introduction to literacy. Actually, I imagine there were lots of forerunners to these books, but these are what I remember with fondness.

Reading to kids matters. Being aware of family literacy will benefit your kids. And according to LifeLiteracyCanada, all it takes is s practicing for 15 minutes every day by reading, writing, playing a game, following a recipe or even singing a song. Take a look at their site for lots of ideas for your family.

I like this idea because I believe that literacy in all forms can easily be part of a family culture.

Kids who read and are read to outside of school do better academically. The trick is to make reading to your children part of the family routine and to engage your child to love reading on her own.

I once watched a Mom who loved to read, introducing her toddler to books. She held the book and explained to the child that books are precious, that he must be extremely careful when he handled them and then she proceeded to tell him all the places where he could not read. Another Mom gave her toddler cloth books, bought second-hand books and watched joyfully as her child became friends with these books. In the manner of all toddlers, he held them, chewed the corner and bent them. Then he looked at the pictures and asked his Mom to read the story. Guess which kid became an avid reader?

Different kids like different sorts of stories. When parents pay attention and offer kids books and magazines which play into their interests they have those kids hooked. Just because you loved mystery stories as a kid doesn’t mean he’ll also enjoy them.

Your local children’s librarian is a wonderful source for books. Take a trip to the library, introduce your child to the librarian and have her show him what books she has that would interest him. Whether it’s animals, travel, adventure or fantasy, there will be good books that will hook him into reading.

Encourage your kids to read whatever they wish as long as it’s age appropriate. Whether it’s comic books or hardcover classics, it’s learning to love the words on the page that is the trick.

And remember, kids also read on-line and that’s just fine. It’s different than your experience but it’s about literacy not the actual form it comes in.

Use Family Literacy Day as an opportunity to take a look at the ways you can easily add literacy activities into your day-to-day experience. Your kids will benefit.

A Few Things Happening with Parenting Today

I am going to get away from winter for a short break in Hawaii in early February. Yes, I’ll be on holidays, but would love to connect and do a workshop for you on the trip.

I’m planning on being in Calgary Alberta in the late winter or spring. Stay tuned for more information. The dates for this trip are still flexible so if you want to take advantage of the fact that I will in Alberta, just get in touch.

For those who plan way ahead I will be in Washington state and Oregon in June 2011 and in Ontario and New England in late September and early October of 2011.

Contact me and let me know whether you would like a Beyond Childcare presentation, a speaker for a parent conference or professional development workshop. I look forward to hearing from you.