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January 27 is Canadian Family Literacy Day

Jan 27, 2012

Family Literacy Day

Every year, Canadians celebrate Family Literacy Day on January 27. It was created by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation with partner Honda Canada in 1999 to promote the importance of reading and learning together as a family all year round.

Whether you live in Canada or not, you can participate in and celebrate Family Literacy Day, too! In Canada, there will be lots of organized events happening across the country. These events are held by literacy organizations, schools, libraries and individual families who know how important literacy is.

What is literacy?

Literacy is much more than knowing the alphabet and being able to read a few words or sentences. It’s important that we all understand the meaning of the words and ideas we read. Being literate means you can understand the meaning of all words, sentences and ideas you read about every day, so you can take the information you’ve read and use it properly.

How you and your family can stay literate

Read together as a family. If your parents read to you before you fall asleep each night, or if you read on your own for school or just for fun, you are working your brain and staying literate! Other activities you can do as a family are making a weekly trip to the library, reading the paper with your parents in the morning, asking your parents and teachers questions when you come across any written word or idea you don’t understand, use a dictionary when you read to look up words you don’t know, start giving books as gifts and donate your old books to charity so other kids and families can stay literate, too!