A Book Club for the Whole Family

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. Sue Barry, coordinator of the program, notes, "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."