Redlands Family Literacy Program Celebrates The Wonders Of Reading
Redlands
Daily Facts: 12.04.2020 by Diane Shimota, Adult Literacy Coord-A.K. Smiley Library
Family Literacy Program
The Family Literacy Program began one
year ago at A.K. Smiley Public Library and what a year it has been for all of
us! The California State Library provided funding for the Family Literacy
Program because research has shown that parents are their children’s first and
most important teachers. Family literacy introduces adult learners and their
children to the value of reading together and helps parents develop skills to
support their children’s education with fun and creative learning activities.
Prior to the
library’s closure in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Family Literacy
Program participants met in-person. Parents and children made new friends and
supported each other as they learned new strategies to encourage a love of
reading. Family literacy coordinators Joan Prehoda and Renee Kennedy adapted
the program to online meetings using Zoom last May. These online meetings
provided new and unanticipated opportunities for families to learn. Children as
young as age 5 learned how to take Zoom polls online and join breakout rooms.
Even though the zoom meetings were successful, families were excited to return to in-person meetings at the A.K. Smiley Public Library where they met outdoors in the Children’s Garden in a socially distanced and safe way. This provided an opportunity for families to connect with one another safely from across the garden.
At the
November meeting families discussed the concept of emotions and appropriate
ways for their children to express those feelings. Families read “The Way I Feel” by Janan Cain and asked the
children to use play dough on a face mat to recreate several different
feelings. READ
MORE ➤➤
The Way I Feel
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