ABC Life Literacy Canada

(Toronto, ON – January 17) - Being an immigrant family is not easy. Transferring to a new country, finding a new house in a new city, getting to know how the transportation system works, becoming acquainted with an often different set of values, culture and currency, and understanding and communicating in a different language. The scenario can be quite daunting. Not to mention finding a new job, school for the children and making new friends.

These are all issues that newcomers can face when moving from their countries of origin to a new territory. Yet, the positive prospects of moving to a country like Canada – that promises better economic and social opportunities than most developing countries – tends to outweigh the hassle of moving and leaving many loved ones behind. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada website shows that in 2010 alone, more than 280,500 people settled in and now call Canada home sweet home.

What is easy, however, is embracing literacy and lifelong learning in everyday life. Learning can happen anywhere and having your reading, writing, math and computer skills up to par is important for finding better jobs in Canada and for improving your entire family’s quality of life.

According to research done by Decoda Literacy Solutions, children have a better chance of becoming fully literate adults if reading is encouraged in the home. So if you moved to Canada to provide a better future for your family, now is the perfect time to start reading English language books to your kids! Spending just 15 minutes a day doing literacy activities will improve your children’s skills dramatically, as well as your own.

Here are some fun and easy literacy activities you can do daily with your family:

• Find words that rhyme with every product you add to the grocery cart. Example: “milk” and “silk”, “juice” and “moose”, “cheese” and “trees”.
• Sing along to your favourite songs on the radio. Singing allows you to learn patterns of words, rhymes and rhythms, and is strongly connected to language skills.
• Go for a walk as a family and read the street signs. You can even think of a city or country that begins with the same first letter as the sign.
• Count how many cars you and your children see from your house window and what colour they are.
• Play a card or board game as a family.
• Pick a recipe from a cookbook and follow it together.
• Read a short newspaper article to your kids and then ask them to tell you what it was about.
• Write a short story with your family and submit it online at FamilyLiteracyDay.ca.

Family Literacy Day^® is celebrated every year in Canada on January 27. Millions of people have already participated since it started in 1999. This year, Canadians are invited to Take the Learning Journey and embrace learning as part of their everyday lives. VisitFamilyLiteracyDay.ca to find out how you and your family can participate.

Share on Facebook

Tweet