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Hello!

Welcome to the April 2020 edition of the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick newsletter. We've got some updates about the organization, news related to literacy in New Brunswick and much more. There are lots of exciting things happening at The Coalition; here are a few updates! 
Help us make our vision a reality!

Literacy Coalition Update


We can't believe it's been a month already! Here's some important information from the Literacy Coalition:
 

A Message from the Executive Director 


April is an exciting month for us as we celebrate several special events including Adult Learners’ Week, April 13-17th, and NB Family Literacy Day, April 16th.

The Literacy Coalition will celebrate Adult Learner’s Week from April 13 to 172020 by featuring the essays of the winners and runners-up of our Adult Learner’s Essay Contest on our social media. Be sure to check out our Website and Facebook to read these wonderful heart warming stories. We urge all New Brunswickers to observe Adult Learners’ Week by recognizing the importance of lifelong  learning in all aspects of our lives.  

On New Brunswick Literacy Day,  April 16th, we celebrate the advances that have been made in improving literacy across the province, while acknowledging the challenges that remain. We look forward to celebrating this day on social media and to honor the Council of the Federation Literacy Awards recipients.

Unfortunately, due to the current situation with the pandemic, our PGI grant process is on hold and we have rescheduled our May 5th PGI Literacy Dinner and Auction to September 22nd. If you are looking to purchase a ticket(s). Tickets are $150 each or $1200 for a table of 8. You can get your tickets by contacting the Literacy Coalition office at 457-1227 or by email at 
lcnb@nbliteracy.ca.

Be sure to check out the many family literacy resources on our website including our new video and our “Let’s Learn!” early literacy booklets available in English, French and Mi’kmaq (Wolastoqey coming soon). To find books lists, videos, tips, and a wide range of ideas and fun activities for encouraging family literacy in everyday life, click on this link https://nbliteracy.ca/family-literacy/.


I hope you enjoy the April edition of our newsletter!
Stay safe! 


Lynda Homer
Executive Director


Lynda Homer

PGI LITERACY DINNER and AUCTION RESCHEDULED to SEPT 22nd

Due to the concerns around Covid-19, we have rescheduled our May 5th PGI Literacy Dinner and Auction to September 22nd

We appreciate everyone's continued support and commitment to advancing literacy in New Brunswick and improving the lives of the most vulnerable among us.

Stay safe, keep healthy and look after one another!
On behalf of the NB PGI Committee and the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick,


Photo's From Last Year's PGI Literacy Dinner and Auction:

                           

  Reasons to Support PGI Dinner and Auction for Literacy
 

1) You value your own literacy and want to ensure the right to lifelong learning for all.

2) You know that improving literacy strengthens our families, communities, businesses and our economy.

3) You understand that financial assistance for adult learners like scholarships and bursaries can
make the difference between continuing in a learning program and dropping out.

4) You want to invest in resources, education technology, and meaningful and enjoyable learning experiences for adult learners across the province.

5)  You're looking forward to hearing the inspirational stories of adults who changed their lives with literacy!

Thanks to all those who are supporting this year.

PGI GRANT APPLICATIONS POSTPONED


We would like to inform you that due to the current situation with the pandemic, our PGI grant process is on hold. For those who have already submitted their grant application, be assured that we will be keeping it on file.  We will be in touch with a new deadline date once the situation improves and normal work activities resume.

Nous vous informons qu'en raison de la situation actuelle de la pandémie, notre processus de demandes de financement « PGI » est en attente. Pour ceux qui ont déjà soumis leur demande de financement, soyez assurés que nous la conserverons. Nous communiquerons avec vous lorsque la situation s'améliorera et que les activités de travail normales reprendront.

Si vous avez des questions, veuillez contacter LCNB par courriel : administration@nbliteracy.ca. Veuillez noter que tout notre personnel LCNB travaille à domicile et que la messagerie vocale du bureau LCNB n'est vérifiée qu'une fois par semaine.

Note: If your organization received PGI funding last year, a report on the activities of the grant must be submitted to LCNB before a new application is considered.
New Brunswick Literacy Day: April 16, 2020
       
New Brunswick Literacy Day is an occasion to acknowledge the triumphs that many New Brunswickers have had and celebrate the importance of literacy and life long learning in our lives. In celebration of this day, the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick will be announcing the winners of our 2019 adult learner essay contest. We urge all New Brunswicker's to observe Adult Learners’ Week by recognizing the importance of lifelong learning in all aspects of our lives. As a leader in advancing literacy in New Brunswick, and as a member of the Literacy Strategy Guiding Team, we are optimistic that through the collective efforts of all of us, including community and government partners, we will achieve our shared goal of a stronger and more literate province. 

Celebrating Adult Learner’s Week April 13-17th!



Adult Literacy Week is an occasion to acknowledge the triumphs that many New Brunswickers have and celebrate the importance of life-long learning in our lives.

In conjunction with this week, the Literacy Coalition held their annual Adult Learners’ Writing Contest, with this year’s theme being “Going Back to Learning Saves Lives!”. 

This led to many heart-warming stories from contestants speaking about a brighter future as a result of their participation in an adult learning program.

The winners of the contest are: 

THANK YOU to FCNB for Your Donation



THANK YOU to the amazing staff of the Financial and Consumer Services Commissions for their recent and incredibly generous donation of $3,573.

These funds were generated through staff initiatives over the past year such as casual Friday donations, bottle returns,
a silent auction and other events. We are deeply grateful for their generous support for literacy and the work of the Literacy.

Seen here is Lynda Homer, Executive Director of the Literacy Coalition on the left, being presented with the cheque by Sara Wilson, Acting Director of Education and Communications, FCNB.

Thank you FCNB staff!

 

Canadian Book of the Month
 
Parents need to know that Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home won a 2020 Newbery Honor. It's a novel in free verse written in the voice of Jude, a 12-year-old Syrian refugee who comes to live with her uncle's family in Ohio.

Only one other student at her new school looks like her and and she's trying to understand why she's not seen as simply a girl, but instead now has a label: Middle Eastern Muslim. A handful of violent episodes (a bombing and a police raid) are described in only a few words and never graphically. There are a couple of brief mentions of two girls getting their first periods.

The novel addresses serious and timely topics (the war in Syria, prejudice, what it means to be a refugee), that some parents may find too mature for younger readers. But any reader who's ever struggled to fit in after moving to a new town or felt alone on the first day at a new school will easily identify with Jude.

In The News


The news has certainly been interesting in the last month. Here are a few stories we think are worth reading.

How to talk to your kids about the coronavirus (and ease their fears)

March 2020 | Vivian Manning-Schaffer | NBC
          Image: Mother and daughter chatting

"Whenever an epidemic like the coronavirus makes headlines, it’s easy for kids (and grown-ups) to glom onto the scariest tidbits of information and become anxious.

“Our brains and our kids’ brains are wired to be Velcro to the negative and Teflon to the positive — it’s called the negativity bias and exists as nature’s way to keep us safe,” explains Vanessa Lapointe, a registered child psychologist, parenting educator and author of “Parenting Right From the Start” and “Discipline Without Damage.”

“I often explain this as our ‘sticky tricky brain’ because it typically leads us to catastrophize things, having them feel much scarier and more overwhelming than normal.” 

Even though news about a virus like this as it spreads can be alarming, there are a few ways to reassure children by familiarizing them with how news stories are generated when it comes to things like coronavirus, Sierra Filucci, editorial director at Common Sense Media, says. “It’s an opportunity to build upon their media literacy skills, so they can understand why the news is reporting on stuff like this, why it's such a big story, and why seeing it everywhere doesn't necessarily reflect the actual danger to their lives,” Filucci says.

Lapointe and Filucci share their tips to help you ease your child's fears about the coronavirus by age."

To read on, click
here. 

13 Things Babies Learn When We Read with Them
March 2020 | Julia Luckenbill | naeyc

Parents reading to a baby



We all know that it’s good to read to our babies.  But what exactly are they learning? Here are just some of the things your baby can learn as you read together.
  1. Books contain wonderful stories and songs that I can hear over and over again.
  2. Reading time is a time when I am held and loved.
  3. You tell me the names of my body parts, the sounds different animals make, and that animals go to sleep too.
  4. Some books are especially enjoyable and I can hear them again and again.
  5. Every time we read I hear how words are used, listen to rich language, and learn new words.
  6. The letters, words, and pictures you point to, all have meaning.
  7. I can explore how books are the same and how they are different by tasting and touching them.
  8. There is always something hiding behind the flap; my favorite pictures are always in the same place in a book.
  9. Listening is part of communication and language includes listening and understanding. 
  10. Things come in different colors, sizes, and shape.     
  11. It’s fun to play with language, and explore rhythm, rhyme and humor.
  12. When I do something, another thing happens; if I point at a picture, my mom or dad will tell me its name. If I drop the book, we might stop reading.    
  13. I love books and one day I will love to read on my own.  

Why I Created 'Book Groups' for My Students

March 10, 2020 | Christina Torres | Education Week Teacher

"I have always loved reading. As a kid, I described it as a “movie in my head” that played whenever I dove into a story. I’ll never forget the thrill of eagerly flipping the onion-skin pages of a Scholastic catalogue, putting messy stars next to the titles I hoped my parents would get me. 

When I became an English teacher, lots of kids told me they hated reading. This didn’t shock me, but I was unsure how to handle it. It’s hard to understand something you haven’t experienced. How could my students not enjoy the movie in their minds? What obstacles were keeping my students from getting excited about books?

Initially, I thought my job as an English teacher was to expose kids to literature they may not read on their own. But as I tried to figure out ways to get my kids excited about reading, I thought back to what made me love reading as a child. I realized that a huge factor was choosing what I wanted to read. 

Putting those misshapen stars next to those Scholastic book titles created a sense of excitement and anticipation that stayed with me even after the book came. When I didn’t choose the book, reading it was like sitting through a movie I wasn’t interested in—I could manage it, and maybe eventually enjoy it, but it took more for me to get excited about it."  

To read on, click
here

COVID-19 Family Resource              
Click here for:
Understanding COVID-19 news coverage
How to stay calm for yourself and your kids
Learning at home and homework help
What to watch, read, and play


Entire List of Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions due to School Closings: 
2Simple

AdmitHub

ABCMouse/Adventure Academy

ALBERT

Alchemie

American Chemistry Society

Backpack Sciences

To see full list click here


Fun Learning Games for the Kids

PBS Kids Literacy and Math Games:



The Reading Machine: Reading Games

Literacy Games on Education.com:



Top Marks Literacy Games:

Community Initiatives


Born to Read

Born to Read NB is an early childhood initiative that promotes the joy of reading aloud to babies. Parents of newborns in New Brunswick are given a bright red bag containing information on early childhood development and library programs and a special selection of books to read with baby. For more information about Born to Read NB, go to our website at www.borntoreadnb.com. If you are aware of a family with young children who was missed at birth or has moved here from another province and would like to receive a Born to Read bag, please let us know by  email at info@borntoreadnb.com or call President, Lynda Homer at 457-0331.

Adult Literacy Fredericton

Formerly Laubach Literacy Fredericton, Adult Literacy Fredericton provides a free one-to-one tutoring service to adults 18 and older who want to improve their reading and writing skills.  Anyone who is interested in upgrading their reading and writing skills, or in becoming a volunteer should contact the coordinator at 458-1396 or email 
info@adultliteracyfredericton.org

Elementary Literacy Inc. (ELF)

If you are interested in working with elementary students to improve their literacy skills, consider becoming a volunteer with Elementary Literacy Inc. To find out more and to register as a volunteer, visit their 
website.
 
Frontier College

Frontier College is a national, non-profit literacy organization that was founded in 1899. We work with children, teens, adults and families who need help to improve their literacy skills. We work with a variety of partner organizations to deliver volunteer-run, community-based programs across Canada. Frontier College is accredited under the Imagine Canada Standards program. To find out more visit their 
website or Facebook.

For more information, please contact Johnny St-Onge, NB Regional Coordinator, 506-450-7923, jst-onge@frontiercollege.ca

Learning Disabilities Association of New Brunswick (LDANB)

LDANB is proud to be offering the Barton Reading and Spelling System in the greater Fredericton area. This literacy program aims to improve the reading, spelling and writing skills of those who have a reading disability (Dyslexia) or reading difficulties. Barton is a specialized one-on-one tutoring system based on the Orton-Gillingham method that teaches the phonemic structure of our written language using a multi-sensory approach. LCNB is proud to support LDANB by providing funding for financial subsidies for low-income families to be able to participate in this program. To find out more 
click here.
 
Saint John Learning Exchange (SJLE)

The Learning Exchange is Saint John's leader in adult education, training, and career development. They are a non-profit organization that has become an authority on innovative programming that meets the unique needs of everyone who walks through their doors. If you or someone you know is looking for support to meet academic or employment goals, they have the programming and resources you need. To learn more about the Saint John Learning Exchange visit their 
website.

Community Adult Learning Programs (CALP) 

Community Adult Learning Programs can help you with things like GED preparation and digital literacy and just getting better at math, reading and writing. The Academic Adult Learning Program is flexible; You can join almost any time and work at your own skill level and pace.  If you have not finished high school, this program can help you get ready to write the GED test. The Digital Literacy program can be offered in an academic center, a workplace or a community center. You can find more information about the programs available in your area by clicking 
here.

Laubach Literacy New Brunswick (LLNB)

Laubach Literacy New Brunswick (LLNB) is a non-profit, charitable organization whose trained volunteers help New Brunswick adults improve their basic reading, writing and math skills through a free, confidential program. LLNB volunteers work one-to-one with learners, using materials relevant to learners’ literacy levels and daily lives. To learn more about Laubach Literacy New Brunswick and to become a volunteer please visit their 
website or contact them at 1-877-633-8899. Laubach Literacy NB has a new email address: info@llnb.ca - please update your records. 


LCNB Calendar of Events
Did you know you can share your community literacy events on the LCNB website?. To submit events to our calendar please send event information to lcnb@nbliteracy.ca.


Do you have community literacy initiatives you would like us to share?
If you are involved in or know of a literacy initiative that should be shared across the province we want to know about it! Send us an email or give us a call and we will include the information in an issue of our newsletter. We can be reached at lcnb@nbliteracy.ca or toll free at 1-800-563-2211.
 
That's it for this edition of the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick Newsletter!
Stay home and take care!!
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Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick · 212 Queen St. Suite 303 · Fredericton, NB E3B 1A8 · Canada

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