{"id":3754,"date":"2021-07-01T18:24:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T18:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:03:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T16:03:45","slug":"literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Literacy Skills and the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Literacy skills are one of the most important skills that we have in life. That&#8217;s why reading and writing are the first subjects that young students learn. Developing strong these skills early in life sets students up for success in school and life! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Covid-19&#8217;s Impact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Covid-19 has had a negative impact on literacy development, especially for young students.  <a href=\"https:\/\/quillandquire.com\/omni\/covid-19-exacerbates-the-existing-crisis-%E2%80%A8of-early-literacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">One study found<\/a> that students in Grades 1 to 3 who struggled with reading before the pandemic were <strong>six months further behind<\/strong> after extended school closures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But struggles with reading and writing skills is not only a pandemic issue. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), <a href=\"https:\/\/childrensliteracy.ca\/Literacy-Matters\/#facts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">13.8% of Canadian Grade 10 students do not have the baseline level of reading<\/a> skills needed to navigate our society. Low literacy levels affect adults as well as students. Stats Canada shows that <a href=\"https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/n1\/pub\/89-555-x\/89-555-x2013001-eng.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one in six<\/a>\u00a0adult Canadians fell short of passing the most basic set of literacy tests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More than Reading and Writing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Literacy is about so much more than simply reading and writing! By enriching a young learner\u2019s life and allowing them positive future opportunities, literacy skills can open doors to understanding, empathy, critical thinking, and lifelong learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having strong literacy skills is linked to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Social Impact:<\/strong> literacy leads to stronger social skills, community involvement, and emotional well-being<\/li><li><strong>Economic Impact:<\/strong> high literacy levels lead to better employment and higher income <\/li><li><strong>Health Impacts:<\/strong> improved ability to manage health and wellness<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While the foundation for strong literacy skills are laid while students are young, these skills need to be practiced and developed throughout life. As society becomes more digital, digital literacy becomes an important factor for participating in society. Being <a href=\"https:\/\/abclifeliteracy.ca\/digital-literacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">digitally literate<\/a> means being able to adapt to the changes brought about by computers in ways that make sense to your life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building Strong Literacy Skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Building strong reading and writing skills starts at a young age when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthingsfirst.org\/early-childhood-matters\/brain-development\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">children&#8217;s brains<\/a> are most receptive to acquiring knowledge. Regular reading with children increases children\u2019s enjoyment of books and reading. Increased exposure to books and vocabulary leads to a significant increase in school preparedness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Establishing and maintaining literacy skills throughout life is a key way to ensure that these skills remain healthy and vital. Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/5-literacy-activities-for-young-learners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5 Literacy Activities<\/a> to help young learners become strong readers with reliable literacy skills for life!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Literacy skills are one of the most important skills that we have in life. That&#8217;s why reading and writing are the first subjects that young students learn. Developing strong these skills early in life sets students up for success in school and life! Covid-19&#8217;s Impact Covid-19 has had a negative impact on literacy development, especially [&hellip;] [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Literacy Skills and the Pandemic - Oxford Learning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Covid-19 has caused a gap in literacy skills development that will have lasting effects for both students and for society. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Literacy Skills and the Pandemic - Oxford Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Covid-19 has caused a gap in literacy skills development that will have lasting effects for both students and for society. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oxford Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OxfordLearning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-01T18:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-02T16:03:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1269748400.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kenneth Mendoza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@oxfordlearning\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@oxfordlearning\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kenneth Mendoza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kenneth Mendoza\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/#\/schema\/person\/254830052bfc199c40ed3991e44d1ada\"},\"headline\":\"Literacy Skills and the Pandemic\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-01T18:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-02T16:03:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/\"},\"wordCount\":391,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1269748400.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Reading\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/\",\"name\":\"Literacy Skills and the Pandemic - Oxford Learning\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/literacy-skills-and-the-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/oxfordlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-1269748400.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-01T18:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-02T16:03:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"Covid-19 has caused a gap in literacy skills development that will have lasting effects for both students and for society. 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