Call for Proposals

The Early Literacy Alliance of Waterloo Region (ELAWR) is hosting it's first conference on Saturday, October 16 at Conestoga College.

ELAWR is collaborative whose goal is to improve literacy skills for all children in our community by ensuring that programs serving young children (birth to 6) include a literacy focus.

The call for proposals can be found here. Deadline is April 27, 2010.

Family Literacy Reflections

Please take a look at the most recent Family Literacy Reflections E-Bulletin. This issue discusses the need for good research in the field of family literacy and highlights an upcoming call for proposals to provide a funded UPP (Upgrading for Parents with Preschoolers) program in two locations.

Here is the link:

http://www.familyliteracyexpertise.org/Resources/newsletter/FamilyLiteracyReflectionsSpring2010Vol7.pdf

AFLO's going to OLA

AFLO will be presenting a poster session at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference on Friday, February 26th at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from 12:00 - 2:00. We will be in the Lower Concourse. Come and visit us if you will be attending the conference. There will be lots of great giveaways!

Stuart Shanker - Guest Speaker - Friday March 5, 2010

Stuart Shanker, Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at York University will be presenting a workshop on "The Importance of healthy development Connections between emotional, intellectual, and language development in all ages of life." He will address topics relating to healthy early childhood development including the prevention of developmental problems and early intervention. It is being held Friday March 5, 2010 from 12:30 - 2:30 pm at the Hamblin Room, Kitchener Public Library, $20 per person. Register at Project READ Literacy Network....www.projectread.ca or by calling 519 570-3054

Family Literacy Activities

In celebration of Family Literacy Day, the Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington Early Literacy Committee compiled some great ideas for how to incorporate more literacy activities into your family's day. Although this calendar was designed for Family Literacy Week, it can be used all year round. There are also guides for planning a Family Literacy week for preschool children and another one for school aged children. Start planning ahead for next year!

Best Start 2010 Annual Conference - Markham, Ontario

AFLO is pleased to be presenting at the 2010 Best Start Resource Center Annual Conference in Markham, Ontario on Friday, February 18th, 2010.

Lorri Sauve, from AFLO, will be joined by Lesley Brown, Executive Director of the OLC, to present the topic Teach a Parent, Reach a Child: Integrating a Family Literacy Approach in the Early Years. Lorri and Lesley will conduct an interactive workshop that will:

• Provide an overview of Family Literacy in Ontario and how it differs from Early Literacy programming
• Examine adult literacy statistics linking family literacy to issues that affect health, poverty and educational opportunities
• Demonstrate the links between the parents' literacy and their children's literacy
• Provide ideas for what this means to Early Literacy programs and how to outreach to parents with low literacy and the differences with ESL parents

This will be an interactive workshop that will engage participants to better understand the issues of low literacy, how family literacy incorporates the cultivation of positive parenting skills, health literacy, financial literacy and computer literacy, as well as links to community supports.

Boggle Tournament for Children and Adults

On Sunday January 31, 2010 at Conestoga Mall, Waterloo, Project READ Literacy Network will host a Boggle tournament. Boggle is a word game in which players will record words they form on a piece of paper. It is a timed event played by two or more players at a time. The person with the most words wins. Each match is the best 2 out of 3 games. There is a children's tournament and an adult tournament, both competitive and recreational. There are gift cards from Conestoga Mall as prizes. The cost is either $25 or a minimum of $25 in pledges. To preregister for this event, see our website at http://www.projectread.ca/