Family Literacy Night
Parents (and mentors), read with your children; it’s life changing!
Parents, I know our society is fast-paced and many of us are bogged down with time-consuming jobs. Often multiple jobs. At the same time, our children spend many hours in front of electronic devices. But guess, what? The parent-child connection is important and can be life changing for your children. Michelle Mullins wrote in Literacy Today that “when parents engage in their children’s literacy development, students perform better academically, have higher reading levels, and have a more positive attitude toward school.” Research shows that family literacy practices such as “looking at books and narrating text together” (Byrne, 2024) foster a close connection between family members.
Try to engage in reading activities with your children. You can do this in various ways. At home with one-to-one attention. School reading nights and other family literacy activities that may be available in your community.
Additionally, aunties, uncles, older siblings, and friends – be a reading proxy for busy parents. If you are a nonprofit organization, consider hosting a family literacy night in your community. Reach out and help the children in our lives. #EachOneTeachOne
Here are some examples of Family Literacy Night in various communities, happening in a few days. Check your local area by doing a Google search for “family literacy night.”
African American and Black Affinity Night – Salem, Oregon – Sunday, July 5
Black Child Development Institute – Atlanta, Georgia – Tuesday, July 8
Read to Me International – Honolulu, Hawaii - virtual events on Zoom
July Family Literacy Night – Fort Worth, Texas – July 10
References
Byrne, M. (2024). Family Belonging Backpacks: Deepening Equity and Inclusion with Diverse Literature. The Reading Teacher, 77(6), 1044–1050. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2318
Mullins, M. (2024). As Easy AS PIE: How family literacy night planning and implementation can be streamlined with AI. In Literacy today (Newark, Del.) (Vol. 42, Number 2, pp. 50-). International Literacy Association.