Family Literacy is a focus on the importance of literacy in order to foster the love of reading, writing and learning through books and other daily activities.
Read a book together.
Sing songs.
Read and recite poetry.
Read a newspaper or magazine article.
Tell stories out loud.
Make up silly stories and draw pictures.
Literacy in everyday life matters!
For kids learning letters and sounds, and other beginning reading skills:
Search for objects in your house that begin with a certain sound.
Look in a magazine or newspaper article. Use a highlighter to find those letters.
Have children look for words that follow a certain pattern or sight/high frequency words. Check homework or ask a teacher what your child is learning.
Cut the letters and words out. Make a collage. Look for pictures that begin with a specific letter/sound.
Point them out on signs, in the pantry, on a store menu.
As you go about your day, have your child spot words s/he may know in a store.
Make it a scavenger hunt. Find a store item that begins with /b/ (b sound).
Cook together. Read the recipe together. Practice some math literacy as well.
Bring the outdoors in!
Take a trip to the beach and collect shells, take pictures at home.
Go on a hike and collect leaves, wildflowers, take pictures at home. Take pictures of trees and wildlife.
Bird watch, take pictures.
When you are done, take your photos to the library or your computer to research your collections. Create family books with your photos, the names of each item, and add some information, if you’d like.
Create individual or family journals about your adventures. What did you do? What did you see? Remember to use your 5 senses.
Sweet Dreams
Bedtime stories are a great way to build literacy skills and connect as a family. Talk about the story. Ask questions along the way. Is there anything relatable to something your child or your family has experienced? Invite your child to read aloud or listen for sounds or s/he might know.
What is your favorite bedtime story?
Family Literacy is a focus on the importance of literacy in order to foster the love of reading, writing and learning through books and other daily activities.
Planning family literacy activities is a great way to spend time together and make memories, while encouraging a love of reading and writing.
