West Shore residents will have the chance to get active and involved in some literacy-related events this weekend as the province celebrates Family Literacy Week.
On Saturday, four family literacy events will be held around the West Shore from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will get families moving, interacting and learning.
A Story Walk will be taking place at the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre. It is a 40-minute self-guided walk through Garry Oak Grove Trail where participants can read the pages of a storybook along the way. Only those who finish the walk will be able to find out how the story ends.
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The Greater Victoria Public Library Juan de Fuca Branch will hold special literacy activities as well, where visitors will also be able to take home a free book.
The YMCA-YWCA in Langford will be hosting a physical literacy event where families can participate in fun and interactive workshops that help them practice basic movement skills.
Finally, the Victoria Conservatory of Music will have an instrument petting zoo where families can see, touch, play and hear different musical instruments. They will be able to record music as well and listen back to their creations.
Mitra Evans is the West Shore literacy outreach coordinator and facilitates literacy activities on behalf of Decoda Literacy Solutions, a province-wide organization.
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Evans said all of the events this weekend should be able to promote various forms of literacy in fun, active ways. The instrument petting zoo, for example, promotes musical literacy.
“You’re reading musical notes, it’s another form of language,” Evans said. “Literacy is not just about reading words, it’s also about following instructions and communicating with one another.”
She said literacy is a great way to help develop family units as well as important life skills.
“It helps develop the skills that children need to succeed in life and school,” Evans said. “So that’s what we’re trying to do is to get families out, get them moving, kind of get them away from the computers and stuck to their phones and get them more active and engaged with one another.”
Details about the different literacy events in the West Shore can be found here.
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com