On January 27th, 2022, Sudbury Catholic Schools celebrated Family Literacy Day.
Family Literacy Day takes place annually to raise awareness about the importance of reading and participating in literacy-related activities as a family.
Since 1999, thousands of schools, libraries, literacy organizations and other community groups have taken part in Family Literacy Day and for a good reason. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to developing and improving a child’s literacy skills. Utilizing these essential skills helps a child reach their full potential, at school, at home, and in life.
Learning in the Great Outdoors
This year for Family Literacy Day, the theme focused on the blessings of spending time in nature and was titled – Learning in the Great Outdoors. This subject supplied a way for families to exercise their bodies and minds by participating in various outdoor literacy activities.
For instance, during the week, Grade 5 students from Pius XII celebrated Family Literacy Day by embarking on the natural beauty of Northern Ontario and completing a Nature Scavenger Hunt with their families. Together they discovered some amazing and unique parts of nature.
At St. Joseph, students took their time learning all about outdoor winter sports such as skating, skiing, hockey, and more. Following their learning, they then had the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors with snowshoes. What a fun day!
In addition to spending time outside and learning about nature, other classes celebrated the day by participating in a range of activities. Some examples include:
- Holy Cross students in Ms. Jewell and Ms. Abbott’s class settled down for storytime, nestling in and enjoying a good book.
- Grades 1 and 2 students at Pius XII had the opportunity to read by the firelight during a cozy reading session with flashlights and a virtual fireplace.
- St. Anne students and educators took time to dress up as each of their favourite book characters. Later students also spent time in the library reading some new books they received thanks to the community’s donations.
At the start of the day, Grades K-3 classes were invited to a virtual story-time with Howard Blinkov, the author of the Howard B. Wigglebottom series. Ten classes and over 100 students joined virtually to read “Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Mud and Rainbows.” Later in the day, families and classes were invited to join ABC Life Literacy’s national celebration. Author and illustrator Barbara Reid demonstrated how to use clay to create a picture.
Overall, it truly was a fantastic day for our students, educators and families. Please scroll through our picture gallery to see a visual sample of the many activities enjoyed by our Sudbury Catholic family.
