Hi Everyone,
We’re currently planning a third gathering of LOCs and Adult Literacy Practioners who would like to initiate programs, get ready to apply for CALPs or better understand the assessment and benchmarking tools necessary for this work. Diana will be in Prince George March 26 and 27 to provide this information. Contact DTwiss@decoda.ca for more information on this.
We’ve had to postpone the Get Set Learn Family Literacy training opportunity that was to be held in Coquitlam April 2. We hope to offer it in the future. This is a unique strength-based, intercultural approach to Family Literacy which supports literacy and essential skills development for low income, multi-language families. We will be thinking of how to offer this information in a variety of ways so travel isn’t a necessity.
Let us know if you would like more information on any of this information. And have a wonderful week.
Lori lwalker@Decoda.ca
Adult Literacy Resources
| Reminder – free books for literacy programs – Decoda Literacy … Reminder – we have free literacy teaching materials for programs and instructors! We have teaching and learning materials for teaching youth and adults reading and writing. Contact us at or call 604-681-4199 to learn how to access free* … |
NALD Update – March 12
‘I’m still learning:’ NALD marks International Adult Learners’ Week
Top 20 PDF Downloads for February 2012
Distance learning offers new route to success
Mind the gap: No ‘people skills,’ no job
Canada faces labour shortage in growing health information field
Keep Your Body Fit! by Vocational and Rehabilitation Research Institute (VRRI) (2007)
Coordinating Literacy in Your Community
Expert medical help and a listening ear & dash; at the library - In her first week working at the Pima County Public Library, Registered Nurse Emily Pogue helped a newly-homeless woman find safe shelter and access to the medications she needed. She listened to the stories of military veterans, helped them organize a buddy system, and she helped library staff deal sensitively with a child’s case of head lice. In just a month, library staff noticed a drop in calls to 911 and experienced far fewer behavioral incidents. Where people gather in large numbers, public health is always a consideration. But a trained health responder has been missing from the library-until recently.
Welcoming Communities Program Information Paper - The Immigrant Integration and Multiculturalism Branch would like to inform you of the release of the Welcoming Communities Information Paper. This paper outlines the proposed redesigned model that will support multi-stakeholder partnerships in approximately 50 communities across BC to plan and implement initiatives aimed at making their communities more welcoming and inclusive to new immigrants. The proposed Welcoming Communities Program is based on lessons learned from the three year pilot Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program (WICWP).
The information paper will be posted on BC Bid for stakeholder review until April 11th, 2012. The Branch will also be hosting 7 facilitated information sessions for stakeholders about the proposed program in various communities across the province. This will be an opportunity to discuss the proposed model in greater detail and to solicit further input prior to implementing a procurement process for the Welcoming Communities Program. Given your shared interest in supporting communities, we would greatly appreciate and benefit from your input at the information session if you are available.
A copy of the Welcoming Communities Information Paper i posted on the BC Bid website at www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca. Please note that all future information about the program will only be available on BC Bid. To locate the paper on the BC Bid site, click on “Browse for Bid Opportunities,” then click on “Advanced Search” and enter “Welcoming Communities.” From the introductory page, you will then need to click on “Supplier Attachments Exist” in order to see the information paper and any addenda. See the attached instructions if further assistance is required.
Updated BC’s Education PlanQuestions - -You may have noticed the ads or heard the buzz about BC’s Education Plan – the Ministry of Education is currently filling in the details and building the plan based in part on what they hear from people in B.C. How does it work? Every few weeks the Ministry changes the questions, archiving previous questions and writing up a report based on an analysis of the comments. Over 3500 comments have been received on the BCED Plan website so far. Have you had your say? Today new questions* have been posted. I am excited to see that they are pertinent to community organizations, in particular question #14 (see below). Please consider contributing to the discussion and weighing in on the value that the community organizations bring to student learning. Please also help spread the word through your professional and personal networks. This is an opportunity to provide thoughtful input into the future of B.C’s education system and how all of us can be a vital part of that system – we have the ears of the Province and its citizens.
To participate in the dialogue, click here: http://engage.bcedplan.ca/.
You can also follow BC’s Education Plan on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/#!/bcedplan. While you’re at it, don’t forget to follow us at http://www.twitter.com/mybclibrary.
*Question 12: What changes, if any, do you think school districts could make to school timetables &/or to the yearly calendar?
*Question 13: How can we allow students to use their interests & strengths in ways that will allow them to learn what they need to learn?
*Question 14: How can schools partner with community members & organizations to create meaningful learning experiences? Why might this be important?
A Community ‘Knows its Own Needs Best’ – That’s the idea behind Literacy Lives, where students create health programs that fill unique service gaps.- “…The co-op is one of an array of new community initiatives created over the past six months by students in an innovative program at Simon Fraser University’s downtown campus. The SFU Literacy Lives program, funded by the federal government’s Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, will finish its six-month pilot project in March, graduating 24 learners with certificates in Community Capacity Building. The program teaches participants the practical skills necessary to identify community needs, organize groups to address those needs, and find funding to translate grassroots visions into ongoing practical projects.
Downtown East Side Literacy Newsletter – The first story in this month’s newsletter, Learning About Learning, reports on the first DTES Professional Development Workshop that was held at Union Gospel Mission on February 17th. The second story highlights the Contributing Through Computers program which trains volunteers to be IT facilitators throughout the community.
West Shore Literacy Newsletter - Includes Books for Breakfast and Literacy for Lunch, Senior’s ESL
Family Literacy
How to Kit: Reading to your child [Video - 11:30] by NWT Literacy Council (2009) – This video offers tips for encouraging a love of reading among children from babyhood through the school years. It shows parents reading with babies, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children, and emphasizes taking a flexible approach with each age group. For example, toddlers get restless easily, so parents can skip over some words or pages. Preschoolers have longer attention spans and are ready for books about numbers, colours, shapes and comparisons. School-age children who read chapter books independently may still enjoy well-illustrated, imaginative picture books.
Sun Birthday Bean helps education groups - VANCOUVER — Two things get John Neate’s adrenalin going: Coffee and charity. Last month, The Vancouver Sun partnered with his company, JJ Bean, to celebrate the newspaper’s 100th birthday. The Vancouver Sun Birthday Bean was created to enjoy with your morning paper (or just to have a cuppa, whenever). A portion of sales is donated to two charities – The Vancouver Sun’s Raise-a-Reader family literacy program, and Room To Read, chosen by Neate. For each $15 bag of the coffee sold, $2 goes to charity. To date, about $1,100 has been raised for each organization.