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Here is our list of gardening books we promised to share in our recent blog, “How to garden in February".  These are some of our favourites for families.  You might find some of these books in your community or school library.  If not, ask if they can order a few of them.   Picture books for very young children (and adults who love picture books) Growing vegetable soup, by Lois Ehlert. … Read more.

If you want to find out how to improve your health and well-being, head over to Ècole Sir John Franklin School this weekend to the NWT Wellness Conference.  The NWT Literacy Council will be there, along with about 400 other participants. As a literacy council we’re interested in wellness, because the overall health literacy in Canada is low, and it’s even lower in the NWT. Almost 60% of our… Read more.

When you think of February 14th, do you think of roses, chocolates and kids giving cards to all their friends?  Valentine’s Day is a great time to remind the people around us that we care for them.  At the NWT Literacy Council we use this date to share the love of reading. This is our second year participating in International Book Giving Day.  The idea of this day is to spread the love of… Read more.

You might find it hard to imagine a garden this time of year, when all you see is snow, ice and frozen everything.  Diving into a seed catalogue is an inexpensive way to experience a bit of summer. Planning a garden is a perfect way to do family literacy activities that the whole family-from toddlers to elders-can learn from and enjoy.  Planning a garden can involve reading, using numbers,… Read more.

After a year of delivering financial literacy workshops, some in small communities, I’ve really become aware of the lack of access to financial services in much of the NWT.Without a bank in your community it’s difficult to impossible, for example, to set up a Registered Education Savings Plan to save for your child’s education.  Without a bank, you end up paying higher fees for cheque cashing… Read more.

The suggestion in the new Literacy Council booklet, Children Need Play Every Day, to let children take the lead during play struck a chord with me.It’s easy for adults to forget how to really play.  Sometimes we let product take over process or play.  We need to be reminded to just let things happen.  I got thinking about how children can spend hours playing with trucks or make-believe games.  I… Read more.

National Family Literacy Day is quickly sneaking up on us.   If you’re in the same situation, you’ll be happy to find new resources up on our website to help you celebrate. We produced a new booklet called, Children Need Play Every Day.  It’s a great handout and discussion tool for parents.  We also created a colourful family literacy infographic that talks about what family literacy is and why… Read more.

The New Year is when we resolve to do better and be better.  The NWT Literacy Council is no different. We have a link to our blog on our new website, but during 2013 blogging regularly got pushed off the side of everyone’s desks in light of more urgent tasks.  2014 will be different!  We WILL blog.  We want our blog to be a place we can raise literacy issues and share information.  We want it to… Read more.

Here are the books that folks at the NWT Literacy Council are giving, or hope to receive, this Christmas.                                                                                                                                                 Saints of the Shadow Bible, by Ian Rankin I love detective stories.  As a Scot, I really like Ian Rankin’s books about John Rebus, a crusty detective… Read more.

We expect that anyone developing a new website will feel like we do right now – whew! Finally! Working on a new website requires lots of attention to details and strong communication with the developer.We hope that you can find what you want more easily on our new website.  People are often surprised at how much is on our site.  We have dozens and dozens of resources to help family, adult and… Read more.