Learning From Home

The Importance of Supporting Language Learning at Home

Many Inuit educators and parents have expressed concerns about the loss of Inuktut language across our territory. This loss of language is having a negative effect on Inuit children and youth in many ways. As Nunavut schools are currently closed for several weeks, we wanted to support learning from home, and try to encourage people to use this time to come together and strengthen our language.

One of the best things that can be done to support language learning is for parents and guardians to be involved with language education.

Here are some general tips to think about while we are at home with our children:

Read Inuktut books at home
Reading at home provides children with the practise and support to become good readers. The more a child reads at home, the better they will do at school and the stronger their language will become. As well, reading in Inuktut at home will improve a child’s vocabulary and grammar.

Making Reading Fun

Practising reading should be a fun activity. If we want to encourage lifelong readers, we need to make sure reading isn’t seen as a chore. Make sure you praise your child for their successes in reading. Also, you should let your child read stories to you or to their younger siblings (or even to their pets). The more a child enjoys reading, the more they will do it.

Set a routine to read and practise language
Setting a routine helps make reading a daily activity. If you read at the same time each day, then it will become expected and you will have less resistance to it. You can choose to read at night before bed, or after supper, or you can even practise reading before breakfast if your children are early risers.

Make a Special Place to Read

Distractions like television can make it difficult for a child to focus. If possible, try to make a spot in the house for a child to read. This place should be away from distractions and surrounded with books or reading materials if possible. You can also bring pillows or blankets to make the spot extra comfortable.

Encourage, Encourage, Encourage!
Try to be as encouraging and positive as you can be. You need to make sure that your child never feels embarrassed or ashamed of any reading difficulties. Try your best to recognize and celebrate even the smallest success with reading. Just having you beside them working on reading will provide important motivation. With your constant encouragement, your child will build the confidence they need to be successful in all areas of life.

Set a good example for your family
Children often copy the behaviours of family members. If your child see you read, then they will believe reading is important. If parent, guardians, older siblings, and other family members can be seen reading, then a child is much more likely to value reading.

Talk and tell stories together

Research shows that children learn language by listening to spoken language. Take time to talk with your children and tell them stories about their family, past hunting trips, or funny things that have happened. As well, encourage your children to tell you about their day or things that interest them in Inuktut. The more we immerse our children in Inuktut, the stronger our language will become.

Listen to and sing Inuktut songs together

Inuktut songs are an important tool for learning language. Try to play Inuktut music in your home regularly. Encourage your family to sing along with Inuktut songs, as this will practise many important parts of language in a fun way.