My wife was an elementary education major in college, and chose to homeschool each of our four children through to the eighth grade.  While we partnered on this, my part was, to say the least, secondary.  My wife guided each of our four children to an education that served them admirably throughout high school and college, and the heart of her curriculum was always reading.  Homeschooling is a challenging and arduous task.  When nothing went as planned, math assignments left uncompleted, science projects remained undone, Susan would wearily collapse into a chair at the end of the day and say, “Well, at least they read.  If I can just get them to read, everything else will fall into place.”  And she was right.  It would, and it did.

Read the rest here!

November is National Family Literacy Month in the United States. In Canada, we celebrate a Family Literacy Day on January 27th. Why not a month? Whose in charge of this, Mr. Harper? (I should note that Manitoba celebrates ‘I love to Read Month’ in February. Way to go, Manitoba!)

Here’s an interesting article on Time to Bring Back Reading as a Family

For many of us self-professed book geeks, nothing beats curling up with a book and exploring the wild, infinite confines of worlds both real and imagined. And for many of us, that love for the written word started in childhood, in the stories our parents would read to us, long before studies and statistics proved it to be so valuable. Sadly, it seems that with the complications of modern life, reading as a family is giving way to a culture of over-busy, hyper-connected non-readers.

This November, the celebration of National Family Literacy Month brings about a great opportunity for everyone to get back into the beautiful tradition of reading as a family.

As many of you know, we have 6 children, now 31, 29, 26, 20, 17, and 15. I can remember reading aloud to some or all of them many books including The Chronicles of Narnia, Betsy-Tacy books and The Lord of the Ring. As a couple,  we have read many books aloud together. What a wonderful experience reading out loud is! and beneficial too!

“A good book can teach you and your children about things beyond your daily horizons and can create characters so vivid you feel as if you know them. By modeling good reading habits, you can show the importance and value of strong reading skills.” Juana Plazola

“Just as healthy food is essential to your body, regular reading with your children is the key to a good education and a better life. For my family, reading is an integral part of our daily routine and its benefits are best illustrated in my twin girls’ good grades and love of learning. ” Atim Idika

Let’s start a Canadian National Family Literacy Month!