Family Literacy Day at Queen Elizabeth School

I had the pleasure of taking part in Family Literacy Day at my daughter's school today.  It's a great event.  The parents and children in Kindergarten thru to Grade 2, gather in the gym, and have a picnic style lunch and read to each other over the lunch hour.  It`s to promote reading for kids, which is something we don`t do enough of these days.  I remember when I was a child, I read all of the time.  Nowadays I don`t seem to make the time for it, and I should!  My children have tons and tons of books to read at home,and they both enjoy books a lot.  My daughter is reading at a grade level above her own, and my son is already reading some words at the age of 4.....He loves to just look at books on his own, at home and at pre-school.   


If I may quote an article I found in the National Post newspaper from February of 2011..It said, "According to the Canadian Council on Learning, New Brunswick has the lowest literacy rates among Canadian provinces and fewer than half the province’s adults met the international standards “required to cope in a modern society” when it came to reading, understanding charts and graphs, numeracy and problem-solving."


It's a shame to hear that so many adults have made it through life without learning to read....Many slip through the school system without the ability...How does this happen??? 

  

My daughter reading Winnie the Pooh...Is there any other?  She decided against her pony chapter book for this lunch hour.

This is my daughter's best friend, her dad and another classmate enjoying a book.

A shocking part in the book perhaps?

I encourage all parents to read to their kids, and encourage your children to read to themselves as well.  Computers have somewhat taken over in this day and age, but it's not the same as curling up with a book..Books can sweep you off into another time and place....They stimulate the senses, and get the creative juices flowing....and they inspire imagination, which is something every child should have.....Books can take you away, if only for a few minutes.  They can brighten up your day, and put a huge smile on your face.  They can excite, frighten, or bring tears or any other of the many emotions... Reading may be exactly what you need after a long day at work, or a stressful day at home........

Reading also promotes time spent with your children, and part of parenthood is the joy of watching a child learn new things each and every day.