Family Literacy Fact Sheet What is literacy Literacy is

							    Family Literacy Fact Sheet
What is literacy?                            Talk to your child about the colours a
Literacy is the way we understand and        shapes of things around you.
use print material at work, at home          Sing songs or say rhymes.
and in the community. Literacy also          Read labels and signs in the grocery
means being connected to your                store.
language and culture.                        Tell family stories.
                                             Ask your children about their day.
                                             Take your child to the library.

What is family literacy?
Family literacy is the way that families
show that talking, reading, writing and    Why is this important?
learning are an important part of life.
Family literacy happens naturally in         Reading, singing, storytelling and
our homes and in our community,              talking play an important part in your
every day.                                   child’s language development.
                                             Strong literacy skills start with strong
                                             language development.
                                             Children who have strong literacy
                                             and language skills in Inuktitut are
What can I do at home with                   more likely to become fluent
my children?                                 speakers. They are also less likely to
   Help them write a letter or send an       have problems learning English later
   email.                                    on.
   Let your children help you use a          Children who start school with
   recipe to bake cookies.                   strong language and literacy skills
                                             have fewer problems at school, are
   Share bedtime stories.                    less likely to drop out and have a
   Make up stories.                          much higher chance of going on to
   Read a story and then do a craft          complete high school.
   activity.                                 Parents who show their children that
   Count the number of pennies you           learning is important are more likely
   have in your wallet.                      to have children who value reading,
   Put labels on items in your home.         learning and education.




                          Nunavut Literacy Council