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Guest blog by Dr. Sam Wong Ever since my childhood I have appreciated the entertainment and learning value of reading.  As a child, I often spent my summer days curled up in a chair or lying in bed reading whatever book I could find in the library that struck my interest.  Growing up in a small town in Saskatchewan I soon ran out of children's books and often had to find other subjects to read… Read more.

We’re going to be busy celebrating literacy this fall.  And, we hope you’ll join us. September 21-27 is NWT Literacy Week.  Our theme this year is Literacy:  Our health depends on it!  There are a number of links between literacy and our health.  We learn better when we are healthy; for example, when we have a good breakfast.  Health literacy is also having the information and access to the… Read more.

It’s just a few weeks until the end of the summer and the end of my time working as a summer student at the NWT Literacy Council.  I love making connections with people, and this job offers many opportunities to do this.  I’ve interacted with the public at community events and workshops promoting all types of literacy. There is so much variety in my work.  I get to spend my days working with… Read more.

School’s out and the summer slide starts!  Summer slide?  It's not a new game, nor something you find in a playground.  It's the brain-drain that happens during the holiday months when kids are out of class.  Academic skills tend to slip away during the summer if students aren't actively engaged in learning.  Math, spelling, and reading skills suffer the most. Studies have found that learning… Read more.

I was honoured to attend the recent Aurora College Developmental Studies completion ceremonies for some very impressive adult learners in Yellowknife.  These learners excelled in their adult upgrading and access programs. The first two graduates under the college’s new Prior Learning and Recognition (PLAR) program also were honored for completing their senior secondary diplomas. Northern United… Read more.

Guest Blog By Cathy Jewison “I had no idea this festival was so big,” a friend said, as we stood in front of the book table at the NorthWords gala. My friend is right.  The NorthWords Writers Festival covers a lot of ground in four short days. Now in its ninth year, NorthWords brings together celebrity authors from across Canada, along with local writers and people who love to read.  The… Read more.

What can you do with pipe cleaners, drinking straws, dice, wooden beads and paperclips?  Build a brain, of course!  My brain building exercise was part of a great workshop that I attended called “Let’s Talk About the Early Years – Early Brain Development & Family Literacy” at the Centre for Family Literacy’s Family Literacy Training Institute in Calgary in May.  The workshop helped us… Read more.

Week one as the Literacy Council executive director was a whirlwind. My first impression was gratitude.  I am thankful that the Council is a well-oiled machine with competent, dedicated staff members.  All the staff members, as well as contractors, know what they are doing and work incredibly hard from what I have observed so far.  They will carry on while I get myself up to speed. I‘m also… Read more.

These were the words of one of the people who came to our Aboriginal Languages in the Home workshop last week in Yellowknife. We discussed possible ways to mobilize, motivate and inspire people to learn and speak their Aboriginal language.  We organized the workshop to get direction on how we could best meet our mandate to support Aboriginal language and literacies development.  People at the… Read more.

There was a buzz of excitement at Yukon College in late April that I’m not sure we’ve heard before in the adult education world up north.  Innovative, transformational, successful – these were all words I heard repeatedly when I was lucky enough to attend the tri-territorial symposium on adult education in Whitehorse, Yukon.  And I’m proud to say that the NWT Literacy Council was a part of some… Read more.