Sunday, November 7th - 10:00 - 12:00 p.m. at the Military Family Resource Center on the Jericho Army base. If you haven’t been before, entrance is off Highbury and 8th, and it is located in the centre of the base. You will drive past the playground, make a right and park in small parking lot beside the portables.
What is Early Literacy? “Children prepare to read long before they enter school - early literacy is everything children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write. Early literacy is a baby who chews on a book, a toddler who wants his favorite book read over and over, and a preschooler who “reads” the story to you from memory.
Early literacy skills begin to develop in the first 5 years of life. We used to think that children’s success at reading depended on getting the “right” first grade teacher. Now we know that your child’s likelihood for success in the first grade depends on how much she’s learned about reading before entering school. Your child’s early experiences with books and language lay the foundation for success in learning to read.
Early literacy is not the “teaching of reading.”
You’ve heard many times that you are your child’s first and best teacher. This is true. But it’s not your job to formally “teach” reading. Your child will learn how to read in school. The most important thing you can do to foster early literacy is provide an atmosphere that’s fun, verbal and stimulating, not school-like. The focus should not be on teaching, but on the fun you’re having with your child - offer your child plenty of opportunities to talk and be listened to, to read and be read to, and to sing and be sung to.
No rote memorization, no flashcards, no workbooks and no drills are necessary. Children who are exposed to interactive literacy-rich environments, full of fun opportunities to learn language will develop early literacy skills.
You are the key to your child’s success in learning to read. When you read, talk or play with your child, you’re stimulating the growth of your child’s brain and building the connections that will become the building blocks for reading. Brain development research shows that reading aloud to your child every day increases his brain’s capacity for language and literacy skills and is the most important thing you can do to prepare him for learning to read.”
http://www.multcolib.org/birthtosix/earlyliteracy.html
Kidsbooks is loaning us a box of books to look through. Bring some of your family’s favourites to show the group or a list of your favourites.
Our wonderful volunteers will be helping again with the little ones with various activities, including arts & crafts, dress-up and reading so the parents can concentrate on talking to other parents about books.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!