All too often, for whatever reason, we don’t make the time to pause and celebrate things that are well worthy of celebration.
Take, for example, the simple act of reading, particularly as a family unit, and the proven benefits of that activity in terms of children’s development.
For more than 25 years, a group comprised of educators, literacy advocates, and family activity organizers has made the time to ensure that Peterborough families can come together to celebrate literacy in all its forms.
With the theme “Let’s Have A Family Party,” Peterborough Family Literacy Day returns to the lower level of Peterborough Square on Saturday, January 27th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
With the goal of inspiring families to learn together, the free admission event is again offering a full and diversified program, including what has become an event-opening staple in the form of Readers’ Theatre that sees local dignitaries come together to read a children’s story, with each assuming a character in the story.
The main stage will also welcome musicians Glen Caradus and Phil Stephenson presenting “N Is For Nature,” Drag Queen Story Time creator and storyteller Betty Baker, Takeout Poetry with Peterborough poet laureate Ziysah von Bieberstein, and a reading of Building A Home presented by the New Canadians’ Centre.
Again added to the mix are free books, snacks, and interactive literacy activities for all children and youths in attendance.
Laura Murray, the children’s community development librarian at the Peterborough Public Library, has been a member of the event’s organizing committee for as long as she can remember.
While she sees and encourages reading as a family activity on a near daily basis, Murray says the buzz emanating from what is a very busy three hours dedicated wholly to family literacy is a springboard for the encouragement of reading activity in a home setting.
“The kids are running around, wanting to see things,” Murray says, adding “It’s dynamic, it’s vibrant and, yes, it’s exhausting, but it’s so much fun.”
“It’s a drop-in, so you don’t have to come at a particular time. It’s free. Each child receives a book. You don’t have to pack a snack — we’ve got that covered for you. And you’re going to participate in activities and crafts.”
“We’ve worked hard as a committee to curate this fun event celebrating literacy, showcasing how accessible it can be. You might be thinking ‘How am I doing literacy in my family?’ and then thinking ‘I’m not doing enough.’ Let us show you that you’re doing everything right but also provide information on some things you can do pretty easily.”
Back as Peterborough Family Literacy Day’s honorary chair for another year is Paul Rellinger, a writer for kawarthaNOW and a former reading tutor with the Trent Valley Literacy Association.
“Watching kids get excited keeps you young,” says Rellinger, who also returns as the event’s main stage emcee.
“But more than that, it takes me back to my youth in east end Toronto — to a time when I got my first library card at a young age and walked a mile each week to and from the library. It was a different time. If the rabbit ears were working we got like two channels on the television, so reading it was. I soaked up books like a sponge.”
Rellinger adds, and Murray concurs, there are so many more appealing entertainment options for kids and teen youths today, such as video games and social media scrolling.
As such, reading is a tough sell. However, he adds, when reading is encouraged by a parent or guardian, it inevitably becomes a habit that can provide lifelong benefits.
“Kids only spend so much time in school — learning happens in the home too and reading is part of that,” notes Murray. “It reinforces what they’re learning in school with a fun element added because they’re enjoying the activity with their parents and siblings.”
There’s another far-reaching benefit as well.
According to ABC Life Literacy Canada, children whose parents are involved with them in literacy activities, such as reading together, score higher on standardized reading tests. In addition, according to a 2017 Scholastic Canada report, parents’ reading habits play a huge role in how often kids read, with close to 60 per cent of kids who are frequent readers having parents who read almost daily.
And then there’s the most sobering fact of all: an estimated 48 per cent of adult Canadians have below-high-school-level literacy skills, negatively impacting their ability to function at work and in their personal lives. More alarming, 17 per cent function at the lowest literacy level — unable, for example, to read medicine bottle dosage instructions.
While Peterborough Family Literacy Day on its own won’t impact those sobering statistics, it does promote a get-them-while-they’re-young approach that is needed on a broader level to see adult literacy proficiency increase.
“When all is said and done, the event is a celebration of reading and other literacy-related activities, such a reading a recipe together and baking as a family,” says Rellinger. “We’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re encouraging the turning of a wheel that has proven effective in producing benefits later in life.”
Better still, during a time when families are budgeting tightly in the face of rising costs, reading is an activity that’s easy on the wallet, with children-suitable books typically available at any one of a number of weekend yard sales.
“Or come to the library,” encourages Murray, noting it offers a number of reading programs for infant children up to teens, with more information on what’s available at www.ptbolibrary.ca.
Along with the library, the event organizing committee has representation from Peterborough Child and Family Centres, Trent Students For Literacy, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, and the Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board.
Event sponsors, providing in-kind or financial support, are the Kinsmen Club of Peterborough, the Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha, Literacy Ontario Central South, the Peterborough Regional Farmers’ Market, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the Peterborough Native Learning Program, the Peterborough Police Service, Compass Early Learning and Care, Teachers For Kids, the New Canadians’ Centre, Friends of the Library, BGC Kawarthas, and Peterborough Square.
