Tuesday, January 26, 2021

A Family Literacy Day for all Canadian families

Family Literacy Day celebrates what happens in
Canadian families of all shapes and sizes.

For as long as I can remember, and even before I'd heard the phrase ‘family literacy,’ I've been involved in family literacy activities.  I grew up in a literate household where we read and played and engaged in community events and nature field trips.  This was a lifestyle I carried on with my own children, and one that did not end when they became independent adults.  Shown above is one of my more recent family literacy photos; taken as my parents and I, my spouse, adult son, adult daughter and her partner were gathered around the table, talking and playing dominos after a 2021 New Year’s Day supper.  The imagery is heavy on numeracy since we're playing dominos, but there are a lot of other literacies happening here; as there are when we read books and texts aloud to each other, share maps, make plans, and have fun being together doing what our family does in everyday life.

In many ways, this is a fairly stereotypical family literacy photo: parents, grandparents, children engaged in a fun activity that involves talking, reading, writing and numeracy.  What makes it a little less 'typical,' perhaps, is that no one around this table was younger than twenty.  Family literacy still happens in my family even though there are no preschoolers.

This needn't be noteworthy.  According to the originating non-profit ABC Life Literacy Canada, our national Family Literacy Day (January 27th) "was started in 1999 to raise awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family" with no particular age limits.[1]  Yet, representations of Family Literacy Day have tended to feature families with young, or younger school-age, children.  This framing is apparent even in how ABC Life Literacy Canada describes ‘family literacy’ itself, calling particular attention to adult family members supporting early childhood literacy development:

Family literacy focusses on parents, grandparents and other family members to improve the reading and writing skills of the whole family.

By reading to children and engaging in fun literacy activities regularly, adults actively keep their own skills sharp and also help children improve their skills.

Family literacy activities strengthen the relationship between family members which, in turn, encourages lifelong learning.

Without adult support and a strong foundation at home, a child is less likely to be successful and engaged in school.[2]

Without diminishing this desire to support fun and healthy family-centered early childhood learning, we might ask how well these conceptions of ‘family literacy’ and ‘family’ suit the country we live in.


According to StatsCan data from the past decade, about one in seven Canadian children (13% of those age 17 or under) are preschool age.[3]  Roughly one in seven (17.5%) of adult Canadians are aged 65 or older.[4]  Too, roughly one in seven (14%) of adult Canadians (age 18+), live alone.[5]  In other words, Canadian households are as likely to be comprised of older and/or single adults as they are to house children age five or younger.

ABC Life Literacy Canada reminds us, rightly, that family literacy “focusses on… the reading and writing skills of the whole family.”[6]  This raises the question: what does family literacy look like in the teenage years?  What if the children are grown?  What if the “whole family” is a childless couple or even a single adult Canadian living alone?


On its 22nd anniversary, and in a time when we all want to honour diversity and strive for greater inclusion, let’s take this opportunity to gently remind ourselves that Family Literacy Day can be a celebration of what happens in Canadian families of all shapes and sizes. 


Cheryl Brown (@CherylAnneBrown) is co-creator of the Storytent and Bookwagon programs, QLNB's Community Literacy Coordinator, and long-time advocate for and facilitator of a variety of family literacy initiatives.