Family Literacy

One of the important aims of the Literacy Coalition is to  increase awareness of the importance of family literacy and provide family literacy support and information for families and program providers. We believe that  families have a profound and lasting influence on children’s literacy development and that it is never too early to begin sharing books with babies and encouraging their literacy learning. Family literacy practices encourage the development of lifelong readers and learners and help maintain the literacy levels of adults as they go about their daily lives.

Below are some helpful links to family and early childhood literacy resources. These resources contain book lists,  tips and ideas for encouraging family literacy in every day life and lots of fun activities for the whole family.

Sharing Books with Babies – It’s Never too Early!

This exciting video depicts babies and parents enjoying books together in a variety of everyday situations. It demonstrates the importance of sharing books with infants and toddlers and contains helpful information and tips for parents wishing to support their children’s early literacy development from birth.

Click on the video below to start watching!

Let’s Learn! Booklet

Outdoor Literacy

Writing and Drawing

Domestic Literacy

Research

Exploring Literacies Handbook

Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation

NB Public Library: Videos on Supporting Early Literacy Development

These videos on were developed by the NB Public Library as part of their Every Child Ready to Read initiative. They show how parents can support their child’s early literacy development through Talking, Singing, Reading, Creating and Playing, everyday. Click the links below to watch their YouTube videos.

Versions françaises:

Take Twenty Tip Sheet

This Take Twenty tip sheet invites families to take twenty minutes to make learning part of every day. Click on the picture below to see some great learning tips with wonderful illustrations by Barbara Reid!

Videos

This heartwarming video shows a father reading to his young daughter.
Learning to read starts from birth. Whether through books, words, or songs – daily language experiences help form an emotional bond with your baby and are vital to the development of your baby’s early literacy skills.
Storytelling is a long standing tradition that strengthens literacy development and is foundational to literacy learning. Peter Clarke is a New Brunswick educator, author and storyteller who combines storytelling with local history. Click here to watch a video of Peter telling a story of the Dungarvon Whooper.