HSBC Family Literacy First

HSBC Family Literacy First is a program that aims to bring parents and children together to practice family literacy through free online resources. The program offers resources in different languages, including English, French, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog and Arabic, so families can learn together in their first language, or practice a second or third language. Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher, and whether you’re engaging in a learning activity in your first or second language, both the parent and child can benefit.

Family Literacy in Canada

• Children spend five times as much time outside the classroom as they do in school, so parents and caregivers need the tools to support their learning (The Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease, 2006).
• Children whose parents are involved with them in family literacy activities score 10 points higher on standardized reading tests (The Effect of Family Literacy Interventions On Children’s Acquisition of Reading: From Kindergarten to Grade 3, Conducted by Monique Sénéchal for the National Center for Family Literacy, 2006).
• One year of parental education has a bigger positive impact on whether a son or daughter will attend a postsecondary institution than an extra $50,000 in parental income (Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, 2011)
• A mother’s reading skill is the greatest factor to affect her children’s future academic success, outweighing other factors, like neighborhood and family income (National Institute of Health, 2010).