Literacy week is being celebrated in schools and homes across all of Canada this week, and today in particular - Jan. 27 - stands out as Family Literacy Day.

Here in Saskatchewan, the Moose Jaw Literacy Network has been working hard to put together programming and activities that families can participate in together to encourage literacy in their children. Christine Boyczuk is a coordinator with the local network.

"Today is all about reading, writing, singing, working, and playing together as a family," comments Boyczuk. "Formal education is very important, but we also know that literacy begins at home. Children who begin life with rich literacy experiences at home are more likely to succeed in their own future homes and life."

The theme for this year's Family Literacy Day is "Travel the World Together." Boyczuk says she's been getting a lot of questions about the tongue-in-cheek title.

"Our theme is really appropriate this year because we always tell kids that you can always go places in a book that you otherwise can't travel to. I love to be immersed in a book and get that vicarious experience."

To fit with that theme of exploration and discovery, the Literacy Network has devised a number of 'story trails' throughout the city using pages from Saskatchewan children's author Ruth Wellborn's book Never Rub Noses with a Narwhal.

"On a story trail, you travel along a path and read one page at a time at different stops along the way," explains Boyczuk. "This is the first time we have really gotten into the idea here in Moose Jaw."

You can find one trail starting at the office of the Early Years Family Resource Centre located in the old John Chisholm School on 11th Avenue Northwest. Alternatively, the Literacy Network and Public Library have partnered with local businesses along Main Street who have placed pages of Wellborn's book in their front windows. The trial on Main starts at Jade Garden and travels south to Fairford.

"Once you're done walking and reading the story, you can go into the Early Years Family Resource Centre or Library and get an activity kit with the book that families can enjoy together."

Literacy among young children is a particular concern for many in the province this year. Reports are coming out from every school division saying that literacy is down this year and that serious remedial efforts to bring kids back up to the desired level will need to take place.

"Virtual learning presents its own challenges and we know that kids usually tend to slide back in the summer if they don't have enough enriching experiences. For some of these kids, there were out of school for even longer than normal."

Boyczuk says it's critically important for kids to be reading by Grade 3 as that is a strong indication of how they will be able to adapt to other challenges they will face down the road. Again, she emphasizes the role that families can play in developing these vital literacy skills in their children.

"Even just cooking or playing or singing together, those things increase bonding and language skills. Anything that will get kids to talk more is great. We always want to encourage them to do their homework but reading to them is probably the best activity that you can do."

Both story trails around town have already been posted and will stay up into the month of February.

ide: initial; shape-rendering: initial; size: initial; speak: initial; stop-color: initial; stop-opacity: initial; stroke: initial; stroke-dasharray: initial; stroke-dashoffset: initial; stroke-linecap: initial; stroke-linejoin: initial; stroke-miterlimit: initial; stroke-opacity: initial; stroke-width: initial; tab-size: initial; table-layout: initial; text-align: initial; text-align-last: initial; text-anchor: initial; text-combine-upright: initial; text-decoration: initial; text-decoration-skip-ink: initial; text-indent: initial; text-overflow: initial; text-shadow: initial; text-size-adjust: initial; text-transform: initial; text-underline-offset: initial; text-underline-position: initial; touch-action: initial; transform: initial; transform-box: initial; transform-origin: initial; transform-style: initial; transition: initial; user-select: initial; vector-effect: initial; vertical-align: initial; visibility: initial; -webkit-app-region: initial; border-spacing: initial; -webkit-border-image: initial; -webkit-box-align: initial; -webkit-box-decoration-break: initial; -webkit-box-direction: initial; -webkit-box-flex: initial; -webkit-box-ordinal-group: initial; -webkit-box-orient: initial; -webkit-box-pack: initial; -webkit-box-reflect: initial; -webkit-highlight: initial; -webkit-hyphenate-character: initial; -webkit-line-break: initial; -webkit-line-clamp: initial; -webkit-mask-box-image: initial; -webkit-mask: initial; -webkit-mask-composite: initial; -webkit-perspective-origin-x: initial; -webkit-perspective-origin-y: initial; -webkit-print-color-adjust: initial; -webkit-rtl-ordering: initial; -webkit-ruby-position: initial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: initial; -webkit-text-combine: initial; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: initial; -webkit-text-emphasis: initial; -webkit-text-emphasis-position: initial; -webkit-text-fill-color: initial; -webkit-text-security: initial; -webkit-text-stroke: initial; -webkit-transform-origin-x: initial; -webkit-transform-origin-y: initial; -webkit-transform-origin-z: initial; -webkit-user-drag: initial; -webkit-user-modify: initial; white-space: initial; widows: initial; width: initial; will-change: initial; word-break: initial; word-spacing: initial; x: initial; y: initial; z-index: initial;">