Reading Together as a Family is FUN! |

Family Literacy Month is an annual celebration that takes place in January and celebrates families sharing the joy of reading and learning together. Taking time each day to read or engage in a literacy activity as a family can improve your child’s literacy skills, and yours too. You play an important role in encouraging reading for fun, and your reading behaviours influence your child’s attitude towards reading and future habits. The new year is a great time for you and your family to start participating in fun, literacy activities and the library is the perfect place to explore books and activities together!

Here are a few ideas and book suggestions from the Family Literacy Month recommended reading list to get you started:

Schedule family reading time

It takes 21 days to form a new habit, and like everything else in life, you need to schedule it to make it happen! Mark it on your family's calendar and carve out time after dinner or before bedtime for reading. Create a cozy nook for your family and keep books, board games, puppets and blankets there. A dedicated space will serve as a reminder of the importance of reading and your special time together.

Have a laugh

Family reading is about sharing a laugh together! Reading doesn’t have to be a serious activity. Choose silly books and let your child select books that crack them up. Use a funny voice when you read and pause at funny parts to laugh. Laughing is infectious and if your child sees you laughing, they will too! Plus, it creates a positive experience that they will remember and look forward to.

Take turns reading aloud

According to Scholastic’s "Kids & Family Reading Report™, Canadian Edition", 68% of kids ages 6-8 want their paren'ts to continue to read aloud to them. Kids who are read aloud to tend to develop a lifelong love of reading and do better in school. Take turns reading to one another each day or at different parts of a story. Encourage your child to guess what will happen next. Act out parts of the story and come up with unique voices for all the different characters. Make it fun: if it's your turn to read aloud, you get to select the book!

Tackle a puzzle

Explore books together by tackling a puzzle. Turn the activity into a game by seeing who can solve the puzzle in the shortest amount of time. Big family? Get into teams! Let the winner choose the next book your family will read. Enjoying and engaging with books in different ways will show your child that reading comes in many different forms!

Discover something new

Let your child explore his or her interests through books and share them with your family. Books are a window into a person's inner world and a great way to learn more about each other. Someone's birthday coming up? Why not learn how to bake a cake by reading a recipe together! Use your family reading time to learn about other parts of the world and experiences of families that are different from yours. Share stories and words in different languages and explore new ones.