Why is Early Literacy Important?

Yukon’s children deserve the best possible start in life. Experts have found that early experiences with books and reading—especially from birth to age 5—help prepare children for success as students and as adults in the workforce. Likewise, reading together give babies and children warm, nurturing interactions with the adults they care about.

Low literacy is an issue that we cannot ignore.

• 42% of Canadians aged 16 to 65 do not have the literacy skills typically needed to complete high school.
• 5 to 15% of Canadian schoolchildren have problems reading, and children who have not mastered it by Grade 3 will never catch up.
• People with low literacy are twice as likely to be unemployed.
• Up to 50% of adults with low literacy levels live in low-income households.
• A 1% rise in literacy scores relative to the international average would result in a 2.5% relative rise in labour productivity and a 1.5% rise in gross domestic product per person.

How can I help?

Each year the Yukon Imagination Library gives hundreds of free, age-appropriate books to Yukon families. Help us by donating today.

Information from:

The Canadian Paediatric Society position statement on Early Literacy. http://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/read-speak-sing-promoting-literacy

A. Shaw. Canadian Paediatric Society , Community Paediatrics Committee Paediatric Child Health. 2006;11(9):601-6