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ATTENTION: ALL HOME CHILD CARE PROVIDERS!!
You are invited to attend a special evening dedicated to you and the work you do! Network with your peers while enjoying light refreshments and stimulating ideas. While you are here, try out the equipment in our workroom and browse the resources in our library.
DATE: Wednesday, April 11 , 2012
TIME: Drop in between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m.
RSVP: By phone 519-434-3644 x11 or by email lwilson@childreach.on.ca
COST: FREE!!!
This IS Literacy is an initiative of the Literacy Implementation Team of the Child and Youth Network. This team’s goals are to improve literacy by 2011 and to be a provincial leader in child, youth and family literacy by 2015.
What are we talking about when we say we want to “make literacy a way of life”? We all may use the word “literacy”, but not have the same understanding of what it means. In terms of the work of London’s Child and Youth Network and this website, literacy is defined as:
- The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials and
- The ability to express thoughts, feelings and ideas
- Literacy is a key piece of helping people achieve their goals, develop their knowledge and potential and participate fully in their community.
Why the Focus on Literacy?
The Child and Youth Network identified literacy as one of its top 4 priorities. Literacy is an issue for London’s children, youth and families.
- Over 27% of our children are not ready to learn when they enter Grade 1
- In 19 of 26 London neighbourhoods at least 20% of children are not ready to learn when they enter Grade 1
- At least 1 in 3 children in London ages 8 to 14 is not meeting the literacy and numeracy standards established by the province
- 19% to 23% of youth in London are failing to graduate from high school (within 5 years)
- 1 in 5 adults in London is functioning at the lowest level of literacy, often unable to read basic signs and medicine instructions
The emphasis on literacy needs to start at the beginning of a child’s life. Children who struggle with literacy will become youth and adults who struggle with literacy.
Although London is average in terms of literacy – no better and no worse than other communities – being average comes at a cost. Compared to those with low literacy skills, people with strong, well developed literacy skills are:
- Better able to earn a living and contribute positively to the workforce
- More likely to seek medical help when they need it
- More likely to maintain healthy diets and to be physically active
- Less likely to suffer from diseases such as diabetes and poor cardiovascular health
- Less likely to suffer from work related injuries
- Less likely to be involved in crime
- More likely to advocate for their children
What is Family Literacy?
One of the goals of the Child and Youth Network is to improve family literacy. How is family literacy different from literacy, in general? The term family literacy has 2 components. It refers to literacy activities that take place in the everyday lives of families and it refers to programs that aim to increase the amount and frequency of family literacy in homes and communities. It’s what families do together in their homes and out in their local community or neighbourhood. Family literacy is:
- About the ways families use literature and language in their daily lives
- About how families learn
- About how families use literacy to do everyday tasks
- Some examples of family literacy include:
- Shared reading activities
- Parents/caregivers modeling appropriate language skills, labeling objects and actions and describing what they or their child are doing
This website provides you with lots of ideas on how you can make literacy a part of your everyday life.
Childreach welcomes all Home Child Care Providers to attend a special evening dedicated to you and the work you do. Try out the equipment in our workroom; browse resources available in our lending library. Network with your peers while enjoying light refreshments and stimulating ideas. Make and take activities will be facilitated by Early Years Literacy Specialists and Childreach Staff.
Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Time: Drop in anytime between 5:30 and 8:30 pm
This event is FREE, but please RSVP by phone 519-434-3644 x11 or by email lwilson@childreach.on.ca .
Family Literacy Day is Wednesday, January 27, and it’s not too late to make plans!
Whether you are putting together plans for your Family Literacy Day celebration, or you are looking for ideas on how to encourage family literacy everyday, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation has resources for you.
Join us in the playroom on Wednesday as we discover literacy in play and learn activities presented by our Early Years Literacy Specialists and staff.
Help your child get ahead at home with these tips to help teach time:
· Model time-related vocabulary, such as ‘minutes’ or ‘o’clock’
· Sing songs about time, such as ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’, and make up rhymes to help your child remember ways of telling the time
· Make a clock with your child and decorate it with images of things which happen at particular times
· Use toy clocks with moveable hands and play time games with your child
· Try using sand-timers and sun-dials to show your child other time-keeping devices
· Ask them time-related questions involving reading the clock and estimating. This will keep them thinking about time
· Try giving them a watch to wear; it will familiarize them with the clock face and encourage independent learning.
We’ve gone a step further and created two kits that our members can borrow to help teach your children to tell time – “Clockworks” for your preschoolers and “Telling Time” for your school-aged children.
Interested in our Lending Resources membership? Click here to find out more.
The parenting professionals at Childreach have created a wonderful resource for families and educators. For every child to grow and develop into a healthy, capable and caring person, it is important to acknowledge that what we do today as parents impacts the kind of person a child becomes. Childreach presents … Your Parenting Toolbox DVD with ten practical tips to help parents give their children the best possible start in life. This DVD may be watched by parents to help them enhance their skills and used by professionals who support families. Copies may be purchased through Childreach for $10 each. A complementary handbook is available for an additional $2, unbound, or $5 coil-bound. For more information or to purchase, please contact Lisa McIntosh or Mary Ann Avey at 519-434-3644.
Family Literacy Day is Tuesday, January 27, and it’s not too late to make plans!
Whether you are putting together plans for your Family Literacy Day celebration, or you are looking for ideas on how to encourage family literacy everyday, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation has resources for you.
Join us at Childreach on January 27 as we discover literacy in play and learn activities all day. From 6 to 7 p.m., our Early Years Literacy Specialists will provide special literacy activities for the family.
