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Family Literacy Month

by Adrienne
Family Literacy Month

Tomorrow is National Family Literacy day and November is Family Literacy month.

About

US congress designated November 1st as National Family Literacy Day in 1994.

The day is an opportunity for schools, libraries and other educational programs to emphasize the important role families play in the education of their children.

Sharon Darling, the founder of the National Center for Families Learning decided to turn it into a month long celebration instead of one day with the idea of having families learn together.

What is literacy ?

Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world.

UK National Literacy Trust

What is bilingual literacy ?

Bilingual literacy or biliteracy is the notion of going beyond being orally proficient in two language to becoming highly fluent in speaking, reading, and writing and learning about other cultures. It also emphasizes strong skills in both the majority language– English and a foreign language. In the context of the “bilingual path” that the Windsor schools are going to recognize it’s about cultural, spoken, and written knowledge in two (or more) languages.

https://2languages2worlds.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/bilingual-literacy/

How to prepare ?

  • Set aside time every day to read together as a family such as after dinner or before bed time.
  • Go through your books and pick out your favorites that you would like to enjoy together and connect with this month
  • go to your local library and discover new titles together
  • write letters to your friends and family inviting them to participate this month
RELATED POSTS //  Multilingual Family Interview | English/Singaporean/Pakistani in Ireland

What can you do during this month?

The NCFL has a guide which provides a month’s work of actiities and pracices designed to inspire family.

Some activities that we might do together is

  • interview one another
  • create a picture stories series
  • flashlight stories
  • fun with family history

If we end up doing one of the above mentioned activities or other ones, we will post and share them on Instagram.

Which activity is your family going to try ?

Check back tomorrow for an exciting reading challenge for Muslim families!

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