The Learning Exchange is visiting nine daycares in the Laval area for Holiday Storytime interactive readings, benefiting over 450 children, from babies to 5 year olds.
A storyteller will delight children with winter and Christmas-themed stories, inviting them to join in on the fun with songs, instruments and jingle bells.
Following the stories, children will decorate wooden winter crafts to take home.
In addition, every child will receive a free Scholastic book and family literacy information for the whole family, to help promote a literacy-rich environment in the home.
The following daycares are part of TLE’s Wonderful World of Stories Holiday Readings:
Literacy weaves through all aspects of family and community life, it is the foundation for all learning. In an effort to build a culture of literacy in the home, instill a love of reading and writing, and in the promotion of early literacy, TLE’s Wonderful World of Stories : Storytime in the Community project will take place in an informal, supportive, story-rich environment with guidance from family literacy volunteers, storytellers, educators, authors and facilitators. Community family literacy events will include character-themed reading events and parent information sessions, Cat-in-the-Hat pyjama storytelling nights, interactive school reading visits, author’s visits, and How-to-Make a Fabulous Writing Kit workshops, to name a few. As well, family literacy team members, wearing story-themed items and fun accessories, will visit schools and daycares in the Laval area to generate excitement around reading by using instruments, storybooks, songs, dance, props and costumes. The objective of this project is to strengthen family literacy practices in the home and within the community, ultimately impacting school perseverance and the literacy level of children 0-12 years old through early and ongoing reading interventions.
OBJECTIVES
In 2019, impact the literacy level of children 0-9 years old by reaching 2000+ families/children in the Laval and Northshore community through innovative family literacy services/events, parent support, improved access to storybooks and family literacy resources, resulting in good literacy practices in the home :
Strengthen family literacy practices within community : Impact the literacy level of children 0-12 years old
Impact school perseverance and success through early reading interventions
Support families in building expertise in language development, reading and writing to help their young children learn the early literacy skills needed for success in school
Instil a love of learning and a desire to read together as a family
STORYTIME & STORYTELLING EVENTS
Story-themed reading and storytelling events
Parent information and resources sessions
Cat-in-the-Hat Pyjama Storytime nights for the family
Interactive school and daycare reading visits
Book distribution within the community of free English children’s books and Family Literacy information
Family literacy themed workshops and information for example: How-to-Make a Fabulous Writing Kit
PURPOSE/IMPACT
Help develop interest in reading/writing among children and their parents, including early learning for children aged 0-5: Help to instil a love of reading and learning at an early age
Teach participants how to integrate good literacy practices in their home with their children
Support new immigrant families and parents with low literacy skills: Provide innovative literacy instruction to parents/families in need, to be able to read and animate family literacy activities at home
Help parents learn to be more comfortable reading and telling stories to their children
Widely distribute English storybooks within the community to children and their families
Increase public awareness and sensitization to the importance of early reading and writing practices at home
Provide storytime workshop sessions to parents/families and their children to help establish family reading and writing practices at home
Inspire families to learn together: Help families create reading/writing kits for use at home with their children
Family Literacy volunteers will be visiting elementary schools in the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board area to read interactive stories with children. These events are taking place a few times a year and are a fun and rewarding experience for all involved!! Children will also be delighted by a visit from the Cat-in-the-Hat!
TLE is looking for family literacy volunteers for these events as well.
The Learning Exchange (TLE) community family literacy project funded through the Programme d’action communautaire sur le terrain de l’éducation (PACTE) from the Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sports was a HUGE success.
Starting last October 2018, in collaboration with key partners, The Learning Exchange (TLE) implemented TLE’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten reading program in the community. This project will targeted English-speaking families and parents/caregivers to support the development of language and literacy skills of families to help their young children develop language skills and learn the early literacy skills needed for success in school.
Developing Pre-Reading Skills
Studies have shown that children who enter kindergarten with essential pre-reading skills have an advantage. They start school ready to read and have greater success throughout their school years. Children who enter kindergarten performing below their peers can suffer the effects of falling behind, which can be devastating to a child. Reading regularly with young children supports brain development and strengthens parent-child relationships. Reading aloud with children is the single most important activity to prepare children to learn to read because they will build awareness of phonemes, language, literacy and social skills. Reading together provides an opportunity for bonding and creating lifelong memories. By reading together parents and caregivers are teaching their children “how a book works”, growing their vocabulary and instilling a love of reading. It benefits the family as a whole because it involves them in their children’s early education and develops literacy within the family unit.
The concept of the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten was to encourage, motivate, challenge and support families and children to read 1000 books before a child enters kindergarten. Reading regularly will expose children to a large variety of text which in turn, exposes them to a wide range of vocabulary and stories. The program is self-paced and can take anywhere from a few months to a few years depending on how often you read together. Parents can read anything their child enjoys! This approach empowers families as first educators, builds strengths and offers fun and creative family literacy moments.
Through the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative TLE encouraged, motivated and supported families to read 1000 books to their children before kindergarten through presentations, workshops, parent meet ups and social media. TLE distributed 1000’s of free books to families, promoted the Laval Advantage card and ensured greater access to a collection of high-quality English children’s books through collaboration with the Laval libraries and the distribution of library book boxes within the community. Parents were given the tools, resources and information to increase their level of comfort in dealing with literacy in the home environment. This approach empowers families as first educators, builds upon strengths and offers fun and creative family literacy moments for the whole family.
The Learning Exchange is happy to be working with a new organization to bring literacy to families in the Laval area. We had a feature article in the Winter 2018/19 newsletter and continue to work together. QFHSA is donating new and used books for us to distribute to families in our community.
Storyline Online is available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide. Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners.
The most important thing we can do to nurture our little ones is to talk with them. Let them hear our voice reading aloud to build lots of brain connections. Plus, reading aloud helps to connect and bond with our babies. ~ Growing Book By Book
Reading Rockets is a national multimedia literacy initiative in the USA offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. The Reading Rockets project includes PBS television programs (also available online and on DVD) and online services through the websites ReadingRockets.org and ColorinColorado.org:
Read with your child and keep track of the titles of the books that you or others have read with your child.
Keep a record of what you are reading using our convenient reading log sheets or by whatever method you want. You can track any book that is being read to your child by others and every time a book is read (no matter how many times) can count towards the total and the record itself will make a fun keepsake!
When your child reaches a milestone, give him/her a small reward such as stickers, a big hug, a book or take a picture with a 1000Books milestone certificate. Print these certificates for your child to celebrate milestones:
Take a picture with your child holding and share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest. #1000BooksB4K #TLE1000Books #1000BooksBeforeKindergarten
