Literacy Series (part one of five)- Literacy as a Foundation to our nehiyawak pimachimowin (Way of Life)

Kapawe’no First Nation – As part of kiskêyihtamowin wîhkâc yahki (Knowledge Ever Increasing) mission, by blending ancestral knowledge with academics and athletics, this knowledge is part of our lifelong learning commitment that begins at birth. The building blocks for language and literacy developments begins in part one of our literacy series – Literacy as a Foundation to our Nehiyawak Pimachimowin.

Research shows that a young child’s ability to use language and understands the meaning of spoken and written words relates to later academic achievement in reading, writing and spelling. Here at Kapawe’no First Nation Collegiate, we understand how integrated Literacy is within our Collegiate and the Nehiyawak Pimachimowin- way of life. Literacy is intertwined throughout everything we do and learn. Literacy is communicating and understanding our environment and our place in it.

Our student’s literacy journey begins at home with their first teachers-you the parent. Babies and toddlers’ brains are hardwired to learn, to communicate and connect with others. Babies learn how to communicate and learn about languages through observations, through sounds, facial expressions and gestures. Early language and emergent literacy skills are learned best through everyday life moments with your child. By singing with, reading to and sharing stories and books, you and your child are building their literacy skills with every positive interaction.

-Name pictures in books and make connections to your child’s real life.

-As you chat/talk with your child, you are building their vocabulary which helps to expand their sentence structure and builds content and vocabulary.

– Build on your child’s interests. Use new and even larger words.

– Read lots of books- again and again. It helps your child learn the pre-literacy skills of turning the page, holding the book the right side up, moving fingers left to right, reading the words, talking about the pictures.

– Give your child the choice to pick the books for read aloud.

– Don’t make a big deal about speech mistakes- simply repeat the correct pronunciation in a sentence.

-Read the world around you. Point out signs in your environment. Let your child “read” all kinds of written materials such as magazines, flyers, take out menus, catalogs.

-Act out some aspects of the story you are reading.

– Sing and play music with your child. Music fosters love of words, sounds, rhythm and rhymes. Music and language help develop the left hemisphere of the brain which is helping us revitalize our language.

Culturally, storytelling is one way we learn about our world, and our relationship with our environment. Stories teach students how to listen, teach them new words and expand on concepts. As they listen, they begin to understand the story sequence.

All children have multiple stories to share. Regardless of age, children love to hear stories about themselves – when they were little, or about a favourite family member. When a child scribbles on paper and wants you to put it on the fridge door, they can tell you a story about their picture. They see themselves as writers and readers.

Although young children may have some difficulty sitting to read, look for books that features actions (Wheels on the Bus) or movements (marching, dancing ).

Books for Babies: Touch and feel books (cloths, vinyl, board books) – Rhymes and songs

Books for Toddlers:

– Touch and feel books (chubby or board books)

– Flap books

– Baby books, family albums

– Polar Bear, Polar Bear by Bill Marten

– Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise

– Discovering Words/Numbers by Neepin Auger

– Going on a Bear Hunt by R. Rosen

– The Wheels on the bus by M. Kovalski

– Fairy tales and Nursery Rhymes

– Chester Bear, Where are you? By Peter Eyvindson

– Any Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle and Ezra Jack Keats books for children ages 3 to 4