Special Features - Family Literacy 2015

Family literacy can be broadly defined as the way parents, children and extended family members use literacy at home, at work, at school and in their community, and how families learn together in these contexts.

FAMILY

Literacy WEEK January 24 through 31, 2015

15 MINUTES OF FUN, FAMILIES LEARNING TOGETHER In honour of Family Literacy Day’s 17th year, ABC Life Literacy Canada is encouraging Canadian families to have “15 Minutes of Fun” learning together. Learning can happen at any time. Practicing literacy together for just 15 minutes a day has tremendous benefits for both children and parents.

www.literacyforall.ca » 250-923-1275

FAMILY LITERACY WEEK Your family’s literacy starts with good eyesight.

Did you know...

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80% of all children’s learning is through the eyes* so it is very important that all children have an eye exam by age 3, and yearly after that.

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Healthy eyes are critical to maintaining yours and your children’s overall health and wellness.

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Regular Eye Health Exams with your optometrist can also provide early detection of many issues without obvious sypmtoms such as Glaucoma, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and many more.

Get your family’s eye health checked regularly.

* Source BC Association of Optometrists

Book your eye exams today!

5, 2380 South Island Hwy, Campbell River

340 11th Street, Courtenay

250.923.1635

250.338.5327

#

Set your imagination free with affordable gently used books of all genres.

Holly is still around at Willow Point.

NEW LOCATION North end of Sunrise Square next to Timmys.

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

- Garrison Keillor

On South Island Hwy Just south of Hilchey 250-923-5121

Campbell River Literacy Now

Schedule of Events for Family Literacy Week 2015

Reading is Keen!

Read Lots!

■ Writer/ ■

Editor

Data Collection & Organization

■ An

Office’s Best Friend

Gina Forsyth email: ginaforsyth@gmail.com twitter: @CRiverGinaF

DATE

GROUP

ACTIVITY

January 20

Rotary Day Break

Rotarians Read SD 72 Determined by and organized through schools.

January 25

SRD –Gardens

Free Family Swim. Clifford the Big Red Dog To Attend

12:30 – 4:00

January 26 – 30

CR Museum

Free Admission Tuesday – Sunday

12 – 5 pm

January 26

Southgate SD72

Poetry Slam

Monday Afternoon

January 27

VI Regional Library (Quadra Branch)

0-6 Story Time

10:00 am – 11:00 am

January 27

Coho Books

Come Read a Story with Clifford the Big Red Dog

10:45 – 11:15

January 27

VI Regional Library

Puppet Show (All Ages)

3:30 – 4:30 pm

January 27

CR Literacy /SD 72

Free Community Poetry Slam (Carihi Multipurpose Room) Doors open at 6:00

6:30 – 8:00 pm

January 27

Phoenix SD 72

Poetry Slam

Tuesday Morning

January 26 – 30

CR Preschools

Gift of a poetry book for pre-school instructors to use in their buildings

“Reading is not only a great joy and solace to the soul but also an endless source of input to mind, to soul and to spirit; if you can read, you can accomplish ANYTHING!” – The Home Guardian Providing personal protection for your home when you can’t be there.

TIME

FAMILY LITERACY WEEK “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.”

–Dr. Seuss

ANNUAL PRE-INVENTORY

SALE Wed, Jan 28 - Sat, Jan 31 %

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Cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions.

Special orders excluded. All sales final.

1074 Shoppers Row • 250-287-2336 • www.cohobooks.com Monday - Saturday 9:30 to 5:30 Closed Sundays

Music education can help with school skills Studies into the effects of music on learning are nothing new. Such studies have been conducted for decades, gaining popularity during the 1950s when research was done on something called the “Mozart Effect.” The Mozart Effect theorizes that listening to Mozart can temporarily improve performance and may even boost a person’s IQ. In response, many parents started playing Mozart and other classical music in their homes. By the late 1990s, Baby Einstein, a company that offers a wide range of developmental and entertainment products for babies and toddlers, released a series of CDs and videos that prominently featured classical music amid visual learning sequences for young children. “Baby Mozart,” “Baby Bach” and “Baby Beethoven” were just a few of the videos capitalizing on the evidence that children learn more when exposed to classical music.

Ongoing research continues to support the theory that music education can help

Join Campbell River Families in the Celebration of

children on many levels. A research group from McMaster University conducted their own study into music education.

That study, which was published in the journal Brain in 2006, examined two groups of children, ages 4 to 6. Each were taught the same lessons, but one group was also given musical instruction. The study found that the group of children who received musical instruction scored much better than their peers in literacy, mathematics, IQ, and memory skills.

Long Island University researchers Joseph Piro and Camilo Ortiz found that children exposed to a multi-year program of music instruction, involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills, displayed superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared to their peers who did not receive musical training. The authors concluded that, “because neural response to music is a widely distributed system within the brain, it would not be unreasonable to expect that some processing networks for music and language behaviors, namely reading, located in both hemispheres of the brain would overlap.”

Music education is not just for the average student.

Other research shows it may be beneficial to children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. A study completed at Stanford University showed that mastering a musical instrument improves the ability to process parts of the spoken language. In many schools, music education is being drastically reduced or eliminated. Parents may want to look outside the classroom for music instruction or play more music at home.

Family Literacy Week!

One of life’s greatest activities is reading.

Enjoy the adventure!

www.cohobooks.com

Reading is fun, enjoy the learning.

Claire Trevena MLA

www.clairetrevena.ca

908 Island Highway 250-287-5100 claire.trevena.mla@leg.bc.ca

Kids who read succeed.

The Campbell River Indian Band

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For year round service

ForYear YearRound RoundService Service For Nanaimo7-140 7-140Terminal TerminalAve Ave 250753-8832 753-8832 Nanaimo 250 1302 Shoppers RowCanada 250-287-9412 Duncan3-5845 3-5845Trans Trans Hwy 250 250748-1742 748-1742 Duncan Canada Hwy DuringTax TaxSeason Season or During Ladysmith Coronation Square Willow Point Suite E -Coronation 2092 IslandSquare Highway, Ladysmith #12-370Trans TransCanada CanadaHwy Hwy 250245-4354 245-4354 #12-370 250 (beside Tim Hortons) Chemainus 9806 Willow778-418-4001 St 250246-3611 246-3611 Chemainus 9806 Willow St 250

FAMILY LITERACY WEEK

Family fun for babies and toddlers Gather household objects that make different noises, ie: plastic containers with something inside, spoons, pot lids and toys. Make lots of different sounds and rhythms. Use objects that make both hard and soft sounds. Talk about what you hear.

Make a treasure basket. Fill a basket with safe household items that have different colours, textures, weights, sizes etc. For younger babies, a basket with soft fabric, a soft toy, a soft sponge, and a soft towel is appropriate.

• Young babies can hold, mouth, and drop blocks.

And they can watch you stack and knock over blocks. As children develop, they can start to sort, stack and build with blocks. Make sure the blocks are designed for very young children.

The Canadian Association of Optometrists recommend a full eye examination by age three for all children.

Dr. Ghislaine Lauzon Optometrist

• Does it roll? Roll a ball back and forth between you and your toddler. What makes it roll faster? What other things will roll?

• Read books together. Books with colourful pictures, numbers, and photographs accompanied by your voice help your child learn about the world.

Through these activities, your child: • practices observing his/her world • learns to listen carefully • discovers that different objects have different properties • learns new words • develops hand eye coordination • learns that when they do something, it makes other things happen • has fun!

How does family literacy affect children’s literacy and learning?

Families spontaneously engage in meaningful and purposeful literacy, regardless of socioeconomic, cultural and linguistic differences.

730-13th Ave | 250-287-2020 www.campbellriveroptometry.com

TUTORING

• K-12 • Reading/Writing • Math • Study Skills • Homework Help

• Academic Assessments • Individualized Programs • Certified Teachers

Register today to ensure your preferred time slot

250-287-9090

www.sunriselearningcentre.com Helping students achieve their full potential

A word about technology for children aged two and under: Currently, doctors and early childhood education professionals recommend limited or no screen time for infants and toddlers. When technology is used, it should be used with adults to help strengthen adult-child relationships.

• In Canada, children whose parents often engaged in a literacy-related activity with them before they started school did better on reading achievement tests.

• When parents are more involved and more engaged, children tend to do better academically and socially.

• Regardless of socio-economic background, children whose parents read books to them in their early school years • Research provides strong evidence for the contribution had better reading test scores parent-child interaction makes to children’s literacy and at age 15. The language development. parent-child • Mother’s reading skills are strongly associated with activities that children’s reading and mathematics achievement. seemed to make the • The child spends 900 hours a year in school and largest 7,800 hours outside school. Which teacher has the difference bigger influence? Where is more time available for change? were reading • The benefits of shared book reading “are well a book, documented and clearly demonstrate that shared talking storybook reading plays an important role in the about things development of language skills in both preschoolers done during and school-aged children. In particular, shared the day, book reading enhances language comprehension, and telling vocabulary development, and certain elements of stories. phonological awareness.”

We’re more than just headlines...

For 44 years, we have been committed to our community and the support of literacy.

FAMILY LITERACY WEEK Literacy Matters for Families

Literacy Matters for Children and Youth

• Reading to children before they start school helps develop their language skills and their interest in reading and learning in general.

• In BC, 1 in 4 children is “developmentally vulnerable” when beginning kindergarten and 1 student in 5 is not completing high school in the expected time.

• The children of parents with higher education levels have higher literacy levels, and much of the benefit comes with high school graduation

• In 2008, 20 percent of Canadian teenagers aged 15 to 19 were no longer pursuing a formal education.

• Almost 4 in 10 youths aged 15 have insufficient reading skills.

CAMPBELL RIVER Located in the Campbell River Commons 1400 Ironwood

250 850 3581 • thriftyfoods.com

Lay the groundwork for their future success by reading together.

Research shows that something as simple as reading together for 15 to 20 minutes each day is one of the most significant things parents can do to support their child’s academic success.

Think of how you can encourage and support reading and be a ‘reading role model’ for the children in your life.

For other tools for success, visit www.sd72.bc.ca

School District 72 • Campbell River, B.C.