This is the time of year when many parents ponder over the perfect gift. After all, it is the Christmas season – the season of gift giving and receiving. Parents are particularly keen to make the holiday season special for their children and to find that unique gift that will not be thrown aside after a few hours or in a few days.

As each year passes, toymakers compete with the latest electronics only to revamp them within months for a more sophisticated gadget.

Even stuffed animals take on more animated features leaving children clamouring for the latest interactive 'Pooh bear' to engage with. Can a parent 'keep up'?

Why 'keep up' with the latest electronic gadgets – why not invest in the gift that keeps on giving. What is it? Give your kids the gift of literacy.

This overlooked yet significant item is one that will last a lifetime, never be put aside and will never be returned for an update. The gift of literacy is priceless and irreplaceable. It is a gift that no parent can afford not to give.

The gift of literacy is the one gift that a parent will always feel a sense of accomplishment. How do parents make the Christmas season about giving the gift of literacy?

Parents can never underestimate three things that children need in order to receive the gift of literacy. Children need our (1) time, (2) resources and (3) love. Each of these attributes can be intertwined through literacy activities that will make Christmas special and the season itself will continue past the December 25th date.

Our Time

Our time can be spent reading with and to our kids and hearing our kids read and write to us. Use the holiday season to involve children in reading and writing special Christmas menus, shopping lists and special cards to relatives and friends.

With the holidays filled with days of no school, pull out those old and true Christmas tales and read them all over again.

Take the opportunity to not only involve your child in submitting an entry into the annual Royal Gazette Christmas short story contest, but as the parent write a short story as well. As a family give each other listening and editing support for the Christmas stories you write. Make it an annual goal to submit a story for consideration – imagine how you can capture so many Christmas tales of the past in a new collection of stories for the family. Compile your stories yearly and read them as family collections.

Use your most technically savvy child to input the stories in the computer equipped with pictures or illustrations. What a bargain gift (and unique) this would be to distribute to family members.

Christmas is the time of year when many schools and churches put on special Christmas plays – go to them as a family. Many of these productions are free!

Just your time is needed. Give of your time to read to children who may be sick in the hospital and to children at churches.

Let them hear the messages of love and joy that surround the Christmas season.

Our Resources

We all find the extra resources to redo our homes, buy gifts and extra goodies for special dinners. Do not overlook the importance of purchasing books for family and friends.

No child should wake up without a book under the Christmas tree. For teens and our young adults, subscriptions to magazines are always a hit!

Give your spouse a book about a special interest topic – even a journal to write private thoughts and memories.

Begin a new tradition by reading special Christmas stories as a family.

Everyone should have an opportunity to volunteer to read a portion of the reading. Another special tradition is to donate books to special children's agencies (Sunshine League, The Coalition for the Protection of Children, The Children's Ward at KEMH, The Family Learning Centre). Donate, donate, donate books – it is the gift they will not return!

Another novel idea is to give a book to your child's school library or class – hard cover preferably. If every parent did this each year, libraries will grow by hundreds of books each year. Place a special tag in the books with your child's name as your part in giving the gift of literacy. There are many bookstores in Bermuda specialising in our own unique local titles as well as international tales – The Phoenix Bookmark, True Reflections, The Aquarium, and The Bookstore. Check them out and be sure to make a purchase for a child outside of your family. My favourite pick for this holiday season is "We Are All Born Free" – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures, distributed by Amnesty International and already donated to our local primary schools.

This is a book that can be shared with children from all ages-especially for discussion purposes. It is beautifully illustrated with language that reaches beyond literal meanings.

Our Love

Christmas is that special time of year when all feel a deep sense of love. How do we tie in our love and literacy during the holiday season? Let us take the time to write and read positive messages to each other. We should make a concerted effort to read the Christmas contributions submitted to the newspapers by our political leaders.

They write them for us to read! Let us make sure your children know that your love is the reason why you want to be the best literacy model for them. Use great language with your children.

Extend their language by engaging in real genuine conversations that will pull out their utterances beyond one or two words.

Be patient and show what it is that you do when you struggle in reading – show them how you decode the text. Let your child in on the secrets of literacy – that we think our way through text; that we think about experiences as we read through texts; that we also read widely to learn lots of new things.

Show them you love them by structuring time for reading and writing activities over endless hours of television viewing – every day.

The gift of literacy – is priceless and always trendy, once acquired, no updates or latest models needed. The gift of literacy is indispensable and will last forever; it comes with a lifetime guarantee and can never be replaced or taken away. When you give the gift of literacy to your children-you can be sure they will never return it and they will thank you forever. You cannot go wrong with that gift!

Have a Merry Christmas.

Next month: Even football players read – Boys and literacy