Learning Success

What is literacy? 

Literacy is the ability to read, view, write, design, speak and listen in a way that allows us to communicate effectively and to make sense of the world.  

Why is literacy important? 

Literacy is vital to ensuring your child has the best chance to succeed in their schooling and everyday life. Literacy allows us to make sense of a range of written, visual and spoken texts including books, newspapers, magazines, timetables, DVDs, television and radio programs, signs, maps, conversations and instructions.  

Research has shown that children’s motivation and achievement improve when their parents or carers are involved in their education. There are many everyday things you can do to encourage literacy learning.  

These include:  

• valuing and encouraging your child’s efforts with literacy  
• sharing your knowledge and explaining how you use literacy in your everyday life  
• encouraging your child to read and view a variety of texts such as newspapers, novels, comics, magazines, websites, email, timetables, instructions and recipes  
• encouraging your child to write and design for a variety of purposes using print and electronic resources — invitations, thank you notes, shopping lists, messages, journals and electronic slide shows  
• encouraging your child to speak and listen for a variety of purposes — sharing a joke, giving instructions or asking for information  
• sharing a love of language  
• discussing how texts look different depending on the purpose and audience — for example, text messaging uses different spelling from school projects  
• talking about things that you have read or viewed that were amusing, interesting or useful  
• discussing favourite authors, producers, directors or illustrators and what you like about them  
• discussing new and unusual words or phrases and exploring these through print and electronic dictionaries  
• playing games that develop knowledge and enjoyment of words  
• making use of community resources for information, local and school libraries, clubs, community groups and websites. 

https://education.qld.gov.au/parents/Documents/factsheet-l-n.pdf