International literacy day

Emily here! In case you haven’t heard, International Literacy Day is today!  When I realized this earlier in the week, I spent some time thinking about all that literacy can mean for a person.  First, I went to the the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and found this definition:

Personally, I think of literacy as an even broader concept and felt it was important to find out what others thought so I could serve our students and families better.  So I posed the question- “What does literacy mean to you?” to friends, family, colleagues. Here are some of the responses I received:

• “Being able to read, write, and understand the language.”
• “One's ability to not only read and write but to express knowledge”
• “Communication. Power. Blessing. Story. Gift.”
• “Having enough of an understanding of a given language to be able to read and write it.”
• “Empowerment”
• “The knowledge and usage of language represented in print and/or pictures being able to read/write/be proficient in any given language including the unspoken (ie. Music, art, dance).”
• “Being proficient in listening reading, writing, understanding and communicating in a language!”
• “The ability to independently gather information.”

From these responses I realized that my community believes that as educators and parents, we must not only help our students gain the skills needed to be proficient readers and writers, we must also know what our students interests and future career aspirations are so we can help them build the knowledge necessary to be successful.  

You are probably now wondering- so what do I do with this information?  What can I do to help my child build literacy skills? I’m glad you asked!  Here are some quick and easy ideas:

• Tell your child family stories.  Tell a story about growing up, a funny story from when you were in school, or about a favorite vacation you went on.  
• Choose a book to read aloud to your child and while you are reading let him or her draw pictures to accompany it.
• Write letters and send cards to family and friends who do not live nearby.  Remember to encourage the effort and the thought put into this, it isn’t necessary that every word is spelled correctly.
• Play “I spy” in the grocery store.  For example- “I spy with my little eye a food on this shelf that starts with “O”.  Then your child can find the Oreos and proceed to beg you to purchase them. Fun right!?
• Since literacy involves building skills and knowledge in areas of interest, have a conversation about careers your child is interested in.  Then, spend some time researching and reading or watching videos about that career.
• Bring literacy into the kitchen and have your child read you the recipe while you cook.
• Create a fun little reading and writing area in your home complete with pillows and comfy blankets.
• Read.  Children who see their caregivers reading (and writing) are more likely to do it themselves.  

Try some of these activities and let us know how it goes.  You have the ability to help your student build literacy skills and remember, on International Literacy Day and all other days too, Hyperion Language and Learning Services is here to help your child on the journey to academic success.