National Adult Literacy Database

Establishing a culture of learning in the home encourages an exchange of ideas, enriches family relationships, and bolsters confidence and independent thinking. On January 27 across Canada thousands of families, literacy groups, schools, libraries and community organizations gathered in their communities to celebrate the importance of literacy and learning in honour of Family Literacy Day – Canada’s largest family literacy initiative.

"As New Brunswickers, we have a responsibility to value reading and acknowledge its importance in every child's development," said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Jody Carr. "The Department ... is taking steps to do things more efficiently, free up resources and focus efforts where they will have the most impact – with our children."

“We are pleased to have established this award alongside ABC Life Literacy Canada to highlight the tremendous work being done by individuals and organizations across Canada,” said Jan Belanger, Assistant Vice-President, Community Affairs, Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life.

“Literacy isn’t just about reading. It can involve things like watching, listening, observing, and problem solving,” said Minister Jackson Lafferty. “Every time we try something new we’re learning, and that contributes to our literacy, and capacity to continue learning."

The Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick presents the Family Literacy Day Fundraising Campaign 2012. This week and throughout February they will be accepting donations in support of Family Literacy Day in New Brunswick. All proceeds will be donated to the New Brunswick Public Libraries Foundation.

Craig Alexander is the author of Literacy Matters: A Call to Action, a report on the state of literacy in Canada. Each year, he travels across North America speaking at more than 100 events about economic and financial developments.

Literacy opens doors to the world. It is the foundation for continuous learning and a vital characteristic of the highly skilled population needed for Alberta’s next generation economy.

As part of Data Privacy Day 2012, Microsoft is offering guidance and tips to help Canadians better manage their online profiles and maintain a positive reputation. Everything a person does online, from responding to emails and texts, uploading photos, making purchases or clicking the "like" and retweet buttons on favorite web pages, contributes to their online reputation.

"As you read with your children this week — Family Literacy Week — please just take a moment to appreciate just how lucky you are to be able to do so."

Experts say it only makes sense for Lego to go after an untapped segment — the company’s own research found only 9 per cent of global households with children identified girls as their primary Lego user. Lego didn’t discover that girls didn’t want to build. It realized that girls didn’t want to build "that." Thus, the arrival of Olivia, Mia and the other girls of Heartlake City.

January 27 was Family Literacy Day and the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) had the opportunity to speak to Sheree Fitch, award-winning Canadian children’s author, about what the learning journey means to her.

McDonald’s UK is handing out around nine million popular children’s books with its Happy Meals, as part of a new partnership with publishing house HarperCollins. The promotion aims to get books into the hands of families and support parents in reading with their children.

The Hershey Centre in Mississauga is the place to be on Family Literacy Day as the Mississauga Majors and Peterborough Petes battle on the ice on Friday, January 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the name of literacy and learning.

British Columbia may have one of the largest Aboriginal populations in Canada but it isn’t the only province whose first peoples are struggling to reconcile the history of colonialism, forced assimilation and abuse found in the residential school system with the need to educate and prepare their children for life in the 21st century.

The evidence about the benefits of parents being involved in their children’s education in general, and their children’s literacy activities in particular, is overwhelming.