BC Council for Families

Too many young Canadians are failing to acquire the literacy skills they need to succeed. To raise the literacy level of our population, Canada needs a coherent, evidence-based National Strategy for Early Literacy, suggests a report released last week from the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network.

The report finds that:

• one in four Canadian children enter grade one significantly behind their peers
• approximately one-fifth of Canadian children aged four to five show delays in vocabulary development

The National Strategy report notes that, "as parents are their children's first teachers, they need to be aware of the importance of creating a language- and literacy-rich environment in the home" and recommends that governments encourage and assist initiatives such as books to babies programs. These programs, the report enthuses, "provide a natural, universal, and effective channel to help parents to value, and understand how they can support the language and literacy development of their young children."

Other recommendations in the National Strategy for Early Literacy include improving access to family literacy programs, increased investment in early learning and care programs, and increased emphasis on early language development for early learning specialists.