Family Literacy Day - Canada

Family Literacy Day: January 27

Promotes the importance of reading and learning together by families and in communities across Canada. It is celebrated at literacy-themed events coordinated by literacy organizations, schools and libraries.

Family Literacy Day had its beginnings on January 27, 1999, when ABC CANADA created Penny's Odyssey, a made-for-TV movie, which was broadcast nationally in prime time, on CTV. The movie told the story of a middle-class teenage girl who hides her literacy challenges from family and friends.

related article

Treat the ProblemTreat the Problem, Not the Symptoms
Underachieving students and high drop-out rates are a literacy problem, not a racial one
Marketwire.com: Jan 24, 2008

TORONTO, ONTARIO – There has been much research done linking low literacy with high drop-out rates.

Recently, a concerned TD Canada Trust published a report which stated that low literacy rates are hampering life skills and affecting business. It also stated that if left unaddressed, other issues may arise which lead to increased high school drop out rates, crime and unemployment.

That high drop-out rates due to low literacy exist should not be a surprise. According to The Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL), low literacy is also closely linked to poverty, poor health and unemployment.

There was a time when there were lots of good jobs for people who couldn't read, but those days are gone. Today a person who can't read has trouble just finding work of any kind. As a result, people who cannot read, fall outside the norms of society with alarming frequency.

Seventy per cent of the people in jail in North America read at the two lowest literacy levels, which means they read nothing, or only well enough to understand the directions on a pill bottle.
. . . . .
Low literacy rates affect all cultures and socio-economic classes as evidenced by The Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) which estimates that 9 million out of 36 million Canadians lack the literacy skills needed for daily living.
. . . . .
Seventy-four per cent of children who are unsuccessful readers in the third grade are still unsuccessful readers in the ninth grade (Journal of Child Neurology, January. 1995).

"It would be easy to blame the students for their lack of progress, and many mistakenly do, except for the fact that over 85 per cent of Canadians are either average or above average in intelligence, so the students are smart enough to understand - they just can't read well enough to understand what they read," says Dr. Debby Cooper. "However, with early detection and successful remediation, teaching of basic reading skills is possible and can lead to effective change - I know this to be true because throughout my 30 years of practice working with those with low literacy, dyslexia and Learning Disorders (LD's), I've seen success first hand."

Every child has the ability to learn, but some just learn differently. READ ON

TD Canada Trust reports:

~ Literacy Matters: A Call for Action
~ Canada's Well-being Relies on Improved Literacy Skills