Going to conferences is a great way to learn about the latest research in the field of literacy and find out how the work we do stacks up with what others are doing around the country.
Brain development, play, community kitchens and father involvement were some of the subjects of great family literacy workshops at the 2014 Literacy & Learning Symposium in Edmonton last week.
I spent three days last week listening to engaging speakers, along with my fellow staff members at the NWT Literacy Council, Patricia and Katie. Aboriginal leader Wab Kinew, Lionel Laroche, a human resources specialist, and author Todd Babiak spoke about change, partnerships and working with immigrants. Their insights were funny, thought provoking and timely.
I was fascinated by the session on brain development. Dr. Robbin Gibb is with the Neuroscience department at the University of Lethbridge. She discussed many different facets of how babies learn and what makes early literacy a key determinant of life success.
I learned research now shows that a baby’s ability to learn language starts very early… before birth! It’s easier for children to master multiple languages later in life if they hear them spoken prenatally and as an infant.
The age from 8 to 12 months is critical in language learning. During that time, a baby exposed to other languages for as little as 30 minutes a day will greatly improve their ability to speak those languages later. Think about what that means for learning an Aboriginal language! A half hour a day spent listening to an elder or other person fluent in an Aboriginal language will help a child speak the language when they begin to talk.
Dr. Gibb also presented a session on the importance of play for young children. She recently returned from a workshop on addiction where she learned that children with more access to electronic “devices” seem to have a higher rate of addiction later in life.
Our brains become conditioned to instant gratification or reward systems, known as the dopamine effect. It’s clear that we parents need to monitor the use of devices as our children grow. Although it’s important to stay current in technology in our ever-changing and fast-paced world, it’s critical that these devices do not replace face-to-face learning and interactions with people, which are so important for a child’s brain development.
Here is a link to some short videos with Dr. Gibb http://galileonetwork.ca/earlylearning/content/robbin-gibb. Check them out to get a taste of this great conference speaker.
The Literacy and Learning Symposium was also a great opportunity to hear from people outside the NWT who use our online resources. We see the download numbers so we know that many people use our resources, but we rarely hear from those users.
It was interesting to hear what resources people really like, and ones that they think could use some updating. We heard symposium participants suggest to colleagues what resources they should check out on our website. We got confirmation that our popular everyday math series is a favourite, and learned that some of our older resources are still being used.
You can find our resources for adults, families and communities at www.nwtliteracy.ca. Please tell us which ones are your favourites, what you want to see updated, and your ideas for new materials.
--- Kathryn Barry Paddock
