Submitted Photo: Mimosa Koop, Kindergarten Teacher with Garden Valley School Division.

January 27th is Family Literacy Day in Manitoba. Since 2005, The Manitoba Government has been encouraging families across the province to read a good book or story together, to increase awareness of the need for strong reading and writing skills. Developing these skills helps us build strong communities and workforces, and also makes for endless career options for the up and coming generation.

Mimosa Koop is a Winkler-based school teacher, now in her 36th year, teaching Kindergarten! In that age group, reading and writing skills are just starting to develop, and it becomes clear that much of the learning, begins at home:

In turn, parents often benefit from the learning as well:

Reading and Writing are examples of literacy, but not the only thing:

In the Winkler area, the Imagination Library program has proven to be an excellent resource:

What can parents do to encourage growth in their children?:

What are some exercises or tools that Children who struggle with literacy can try?:

And there are always a few who seem to excel at reading and writing, even at a young age. How about a challenge for them?: