Blog

Guest blog by Noushin Naziripour, Yellowknife Public Library Do you buy books and don’t get past the introduction?  Do you want to improve your reading habits?  Do you miss reading because of your busy and stressful life? Then read slowly to reduce stress or consider joining a silent reading café.  You could join the “slow reading” movement, where slow reading groups around the world are… Read more.

This weeks’ blog is about love.  You may well ask what love has to do with literacy and learning.  A lot, as it turns out.  Our booklet Love Grows Brains explains how the experiences we give our children in the first three years of life lay the foundation for lifelong learning.  It describes how loving care is not only important, but is necessary, for a baby’s brain to grow.  This is one… Read more.

Katie Randall and I travelled to Tulita recently to visit one of our Skill Builders Projects in action.  Bradley Menacho, the community recreation coordinator, is leading a Drum Making workshop at the Cultural Centre on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  Participants are learning the basics of drum making through this series of workshops.  Drum making is a tradition that has long been a part of… Read more.

Our Snuggle Up Together booklet suggests 100 great reads for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  Whether you have young children, are looking for a gift, or need ideas for a family literacy program, this booklet offers great tips as well as great book ideas. Family Literacy Day was this week.  Family literacy is getting lots of attention because we’re learning that active reading and other… Read more.

There’s a lot going on in the life of a young child.  Cognitive development.  Social and emotional development.  Fine and gross motor development. Language development.  These are some of the domains of early childhood development.  Many parents only learn of these domains when they bring their child to see the nurse for an immunization, or a checkup.  They may be discussed during parenting… Read more.

Is e-reading to your toddler story time, or simply screen time?   This is the title of an article posted by the New York Times in October, 2014. It caught our attention because it’s a question parents have been asking, and we’ve been trying to answer.  The article concluded that the answer is not entirely clear yet.  Long-term studies are needed to show how learning to read is affected by… Read more.

When Martha Hamre worked with us last summer she developed health literacy resources for NWT Literacy Week.  Since returning to study at the University of Guelph she’s volunteered with a unique literacy program.  We’re delighted she had time during her Christmas break to write about it. The Running and Reading program involves exercising your mind and your body.  It was founded on the knowledge… Read more.

Laura Eby, NWT Literacy Council Youth and Adult Services I read Amy Poehler’s Yes Please at lightening speed during my recent plane rides to and from Winnipeg.  I didn’t want to put it down, and was laughing out loud and smiling most of the way.  It’s a quick, fun read full of stories and hilarious anecdotes as well as thoughtful insights and advice about working hard to make a career and a life… Read more.

Marianne Bromley, NWT Literacy Council Literacy Coordinator I plan to give Any Questions? by Marie-Louise Gay.  I recently bought this book for myself because I am a fan of Gay's Stella series (also great gifts).  In this book, Gay addresses the many questions children ask her about writing, drawing, ideas and her life.  She answers them with a whimsical and funny story within a story that shows… Read more.

Is it possible to improve your literacy and essential skills (LES) while learning how to refurbish a life boat? What about while making seal skin mittens?  Or fixing bikes? Three years ago we had no idea if you could, but now we do! In 2011 the NWT Literacy Council, along with the Yukon Literacy Coalition, Ilitaqsiniq- Nunavut Literacy Council and Literacy Newfoundland and Labrador started a… Read more.