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2011-09-28

Raise-A-Reader Day (OR: Do You Know What Today is?)

Reading.... it is one of the great joys of life! To hold a book in one's hands, turning pages one by one, unfolding a delicious story you find yourself completely lost in .... ahhhh! Pure BLISS!

And, of course, for our children, reading is imperative - it's a pre-requisite to most learning! Did you know that today is Raise-A-Reader Day 2011? Yep. In fact, today is the 10th Annual one! On this day, newspapers across Canada issue and sell special editions with the proceeds going towards the Raise-A-Reader program and initiatives. You probably saw volunteers selling this edition of The Telegram downtown earlier today or even around you school or community centre - I hope you picked one up :-)

Here are some ideas to celebrate Raise-A-Reader Day:
  • make a trip to the library after school today
  • serve a sandwiches for supper, or some other food that you can cut into letters; or see if Bulk Barn has some dry alphabet pasta and make alphabet soup! 
  • At supper, discuss your favourite books. And for Mommy & Daddy - you have to tell your favourite thing to read now and when you were the kids' age! Your children will love to hear about it, and you might spark a new interest.
  • Have a scavenger hunt with the children ("something that starts with "B"", etc... go through all the letters in the family name). Make it an even better activity by taking it outside and making it a part of an evening walk....
  • Take turns reading the special edition of today's Telegram, a bedtime story or chapter book. 

Also, last year I jotted down some ideas to encourage reading and help little ones become engaged and interested in learning this vital skill. We did have some struggles early on with Mario, and Toad can become discouraged with this year's increased focus at school.... I have to keep reminding myself what a good a reader Mario is now, always with a book (or two or three) nearby, and know that Toad's struggles will pass, we just have to keep at it! Here is the link: Encouraging Reading - you may find it helps you too :-)

Enjoy your Raise-a-Reader Day!

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