Get reading!

It’s Family Literacy Week in our region and high time to give such an important issue some much-needed attention.

The ability to read and understand what we read is not innate. It’s an acquired skill that combines persistence, effort and a willingness to unlock the door to a world of imagination that, interestingly enough, is within us all.

In conjunction with Literacy Week, parents and caregivers are invited to participate in projects taking place at four schools in Hants West: Hantsport, Newport Station, Three Mile Plains and Windsor Forks.

If, as a parent or caregiver, you’ve ever wondered how to inspire kids to read, this is right up your alley. The program is free, daytime and geared for parents of P-6 students.

It offers tips on how to help children with reading and writing and provides quality children’s books for your at-home library.

The idea is to increase literacy awareness, skills and participation in the vast mosaic of reading, writing and learning. Needless to say, we endorse such an initiative, so much so that we partnered with the Hants Learning Network to encourage young writers to participate in our “In the Trunk� writing contest. See the brief on Page 17 for more details.

It’s a challenge these days to engage kids in the reading experience. Multi-media distractions are everywhere and there’s a legitimate concern that books are passé in the minds of many young people.

In fact, they’re repositories of knowledge that spans antiquity to the present day and can be used not only as entertainment in the form of popular fiction, but as a credible source of time-tested information.

Reading and writing are the cornerstones of successful endeavour in our society and we applaud any organization that promotes these two fundamental skills.

Get involved. Share your time and good words with your children this week and start a trend. A lifelong love of learning could result, and no one could ask for a greater return on such a small investment of interest and time.

For more on the program, contact Karen Ferguson, Hants Learning Network Coordinator, at 798-6754 and get reading.