Keeping kids reading levels up over the summer with some page turning stories
United for Literacy will have your Wednesdays and Thursdays booked this month as they host pop-up literacy tents at both the Selkirk Port Market and the Gaynor Family Regional Library.
United for Literacy, formerly Frontier College, is a national non-profit group that’s involved with promoting literacy for all ages of people in our communities. These summer pop-tup tents are for kids who are twelve and under and are a great way to make reading a fun outside of the house activity while the weather is warm.
“With children, there is a summer learning loss. Just from the summer learning loss, [they] can lose almost two months of reading skills over a single summer and something as simple as for children to read five books over the summer will help them to maintain their reading levels. Like 15 minutes a day, well help with that. So, what we do is our summer programming to [mitigate] at summer loss and keeping the kids excited about learning, about literacy and reading,” said Sandra Ross, Community Coordinator for United for Literacy.
Something that’s exciting for United for Literacy this year is that they are celebrating their 125th anniversary of providing services that help promote literacy. Because of that accomplishment, the tents this year are being named 125Tents.
“We have invited special guest readers to come in and to read a book. Generally, how our reading tent program works is – the kids would come, we would read a book with them, and then we’ll do fun activities that are geared toward the book. [The activity} helps make sure that literacy is secured a little bit more and then all of our reading tents end with the kids having a choice of a book to take home. We were trying to help them build their summer library,” said Ross.
The guest readers that our community can look forward to at the Selkirk Port Market will be:
Aug. 7, – Indigenous Educator, Kim Blackburde Moore will read Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior by Carole Lindstrom.
Aug. 14, – Author, Creator, Xiamana Vox will tell the story of Cecelia and the Hill Being.
Aug. 21, – City Councillor, Lorie Fiddler will read The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton.
Aug. 28, – CJNU Radio Personality, Chris Caslake will read Misunderstood Shark: Friends Don’t Eat Friends by Ame Dyckman.
All Selkirk Port Market 125Tent events start at 1 p.m.
The pop-up tents at the Gaynor Family Regional Library will be outside on the library’s patio from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 7,15, 22, and 29.
Ross explained that it’s important for kids as well as adults to keep their literacy skills sharp because literacy is part of almost every aspect of our lives.
“Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write, it’s the ability to understand the printed word, to put it to use, and engage in activities and opportunities at home, work or in the community. It’s about being able to succeed in today’s world. We really believe that everyone can learn, but not everybody gets the help that they need to learn and so all of our programs are free. We don’t charge for any of our programs,” said Ross.
She said that her favourite part of these events is seeing the excitement on the kids’s faces when they get a new book or get help learning and making breakthroughs.
“To me, it’s just that joy, from the kids and knowing that it’s something to try to instill that love of reading in them,” said Ross.
She invites residents to bring their kids to the Port Market or Library and participate in the 125Tents in our community this summer.
“Definitely stop by and check us out,” said Ross.
Also, make sure to keep up with United for Literacy online as they often have literacy programs and events in our area. Coming up in the fall will be their Halloween Tales and Trails in Selkirk Park and families won’t want to miss out.
