Everyone's heard of book clubs where
people read a book and discuss it together. But who has ever joined a book
club where you get to write your own book, and then put it together, too?
The answer: more and more parents who have joined the Family Literacy
program's "Book Making Club".
Kingston Literacy's Family Literacy
program concentrates on supporting the parents of young children as they
encourage their children's early literacy skills. The workshops are spread
out over ten meetings, and are designed to teach parents about aspects of
quality children's books. Parents and caregivers also have the opportunity
to create inexpensive resources for their children. At the end of the ten
sessions, parents go home with six children's books, one or two learning
games, and a learning portfolio. One parent could hardly wait for the next
series to begin, noting, "It was a fun learning experience. I loved it. The
kids loved the books. My daughter took the books I made to school every week
for show and tell."
The foundation for literacy skills
is set at a very young age. The best way to do this is to create an
accepting and supportive environment for infants and young children to learn
language, experience and handle books, and hear stories. The nurturing time
parents and children have when reading together is ideal for this learning,
and the Family Literacy staff try to open up other learning opportunities to
both children and the whole family.
"We want families to be able to
create a small collection of books for their young children, learn how to
help their children learn, and learn more about Kingston Literacy and other
upgrading or training programs in Kingston and the area."
For more information on this or
other Family Literacy programs, call 546-2580.