To fall asleep gently, children often ask for their favorite book. Even if it can sometimes seem boring to reread the same book over and over again, the parent can only be encouraged to repeat the experience knowing all the benefits of this moment shared with his child.
Indeed, each of these interactions promotes the emergence of literacy, this fundamental skill that unfolds through reading, understanding texts and writing.
Basically, reading educates. The act itself, however, goes far beyond that. According to the Canadian Pediatric Society, it reinforces children’s very skills, promotes their academic success, transforms babbling into words and each interaction related to reading, such as speaking and singing, reinforces essential socio-affective and cognitive learning.
These books, recommended by qualified personnel, borrowed free of charge from the library and reread to satiety, have virtues both for the toddler and for the parent.
Yes, he too strengthens his literacy skills and thereby develops a growing capacity for understanding.
In Quebec, a recent study conducted by the Literacy Foundation concludes that it is urgent to strengthen efforts to improve these literacy skills. Although the percentage of the Quebec population over the age of 15 who did not reach level 3 of literacy established by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) has increased since 2011, it was still to 51.6% in 2021. It should be remembered that level 3 in literacy corresponds in particular to the ability to understand long and dense texts, to correctly interpret their meaning or to make adequate connections between the ideas they contain.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
The author invites Quebec families to use public libraries.
Libraries to the rescue
Affected by the pandemic, like all cultural institutions, libraries consider that they have reconnected with around 80% of their users. However, many would benefit from returning there or simply using them more regularly, public libraries being essential levers in the fight against illiteracy and improving the literacy level of the entire population.
According to the Observatoire des tout-petits, only 19% of kindergarten students had learned, in the year before they entered school, to recite or recognize the alphabet with their parents.
The multiple services of the public library, think of story hours, early reading and writing workshops or simply the loan of primers adapted to early childhood, can support this learning.
Through the government’s Agir Premier program, which is aimed at children aged 0 to 5 and their families, health professionals, such as speech therapists, remedial teachers, pediatricians, family doctors and nurses, have in common to watch over the development of the child and to help identify the precursor risks of reading or language difficulties in order to direct him towards the right services. Essential as a complementary service, public libraries allow these specialists to refer to resources for families, in particular the programs A birth, a book, Biblio-Jeux and the Trouve-Livre.
Numerous studies have shown that parents play a crucial role in developing children to read and write. Just flipping through a picture book or singing a song together will help decrease the likelihood that the toddler will be vulnerable in kindergarten.
In order to reverse the national trend, we invite health professionals to prescribe a dose of public library to all Quebec families. Their role in family literacy is established and they are ready to reconnect with all citizens, from toddlers to adults, to offer a whole range of essential services.