It was like one GIANT book club, three nights in a row.
From November 17 through November 19, more than 345 families packed a “virtual building” each evening to participate in Indian Hill Primary School’s third annual Literacy Night. Using a Google site, local authors joined teachers to give families tools for fun, engaging, literacy-building ideas for home. Students and their parents connected with the organizers and each other through Zoom sessions.
“Our in-person Literacy Night event has been such a huge success over the past two years we felt strongly that it still had to happen during a pandemic,” said Indian Hill Primary School Principal Dr. Erin Owens. “Becoming a literate member of society takes much more than reading and writing instruction, and lifelong-readers are built at home as much as at school. Parents are the first and forever teacher of their child, and we love being able to offer a family event where children and parents learn and interact together.”
The virtual event was produced over a four-week period, with more than 20 volunteers working to create ideas, flyers, and virtual rooms for families to access. In addition to the traditional Literacy Night activities, the school worked with the Indian Hill PTO to create a virtual Holiday Market and a virtual Book Fair.
“Literacy Night has always been about the joy of seeing children and their caregivers interact and engage in schooling in a positive way,” said Dr. Owens. “This year more than ever we miss seeing our families and our virtual Literacy Night gave us a way to connect with families around the building blocks of early childhood education – literacy!”
Photo caption: During Indian Hill Primary School’s Literacy Night, local authors joined teachers to give families tools for fun, engaging, literacy-building ideas virtually connecting with each other through Zoom sessions.