Literacy
Adult Literacy
- Adult Literacy
- Family Literacy
- Raising adult literacy skills
- Don't underestimate the power of literacy
adult literacy
"works to promote, develop and enhance literacy skills"
We provide:
- confidential student assessment
- individual programs
- trained volunteers
- resource library
If you know someone who has difficulty with reading, writing or spelling, please tell them about our program. We also help people who are English Language Learners. We have trained volunteers who work with learners on a one-to-one basis. The program is confidential and free!
Did you know...
1 in 3 adults needs help with reading and writing?
1 in 7 adults cannot read this page?
email or phone 852-4418 for information
family literacy
To find out more about the following projects, click below:
Center for early childhood education
Raising adult literacy skills
The Need for a Pan-Canadian Response
Submitted by the Jasper Adult Literacy Program
Jasper
Booster — Canada, with its well-established educational
systems and its high proportion of educated people in the population
as a whole, would not automatically be thought of as a country with
a “literacy problem”.
Yet a recent International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) found that amongst
Canada’s relatively well-educated population, about 42 per cent of working
age adults - eight million people - had literacy skills below the minimum
level to cope with the complex demands of everyday life and work in our
global economy.
There is no broad consensus about what it means to be literate and that
in itself is a problem especially with policy makers. Literacy is more
than the ability to read or write. It is the ability to participate effectively
in daily life.
Literacy involves the combination of thinking skills and social skills.
The term critical literacy is used to describe cognitive skills, which,
together with social skills, are needed to critically analyze and use
information to exert greater control over life events and situations.
Being able to read, understand and act on written material and basic
numerical information is fundamental in our daily lives as parents, students,
workers, community members and citizens.
On an individual level, low literacy skills have an impact on people‚s
ability to support themselves and their family. Low income, poor health,
and social exclusion are all associated with low literacy.
The Standing Committee of HRDC on “Raising Adult Literacy Skills” expresses
an inspiring vision: a Canada where everyone reads and writes; where
all children have people who read to them every day; where people who
have difficulty reading and writing feel valued and supported; where
language is plain; where literacy organizations have the resources to
serve the literacy needs of their communities; where literacy in all
its forms is celebrated and supported; and a Canada where a pan-Canadian
literacy strategy facilitates the accomplishment of all this.
It is a powerful vision that will be require a commitment of politicians
and citizens in creating a momentum for action on literacy issues.
Call the Community Learning Centre 852-4418 for more information
Don't
underestimate the power of literacy
Family Literacy Day is set for Jan. 27, a day dedicated
to understanding how important it is to make literacy a crucial part
of parent's and children’s lives.
The significance of well-developed reading and writing skills should
never be underestimated because they are the gateway to so many other
aspects in the daily routine. Some people may take literacy for granted,
but ancient history shows just how far mankind has come since developing
reading and writing.
The first major leap from grunting caveman to organized societies came
through speech. The next major leap in the evolution of mankind came
with the ability to read and write.
Without the ability to record the results of lessons learned, experiments
and failures, the modern world would be a far cry from what it is today.
There would be no airplanes, no televisions, no cars and no skyscrapers.
The existence of elementary schools would be questionable, high schools
would be unlikely and universities impossible.
It’s hard to imagine there would be much more than dirt trails, grass
huts and fire.
Today, someone who can’t read will spend an entire life denying it,
compensating for it and justifying it. A life will be wasted through
unattainable potential.
Although illiteracy in Canada is surprisingly high and the federal government
spends considerable resources trying to correct that, the only person
who can truly do something about it is the individual who can’t read.
No one can be forced to learn to read.
In an effort to highlight the problem, Jan. 27 has been dedicated to
Family Literacy Day. It’s a day to recognize the magic of reading and
a day to reach out to those who need help. It’s not only a day of awareness
for literacy issues, but the perfect time to realize that reading can
be fun. All that's needed, regardless of age, is a favourite author or
favourite subject to read about.
Parents play a crucial role in developing reading skills in their children. From reading to them in bed, helping understand difficult-to-pronounce words and showing by example that reading is both important and fun, parents put in place the building blocks for a bright future.
If you know someone who has difficulty with reading, beg, cajole and
threaten them into doing something about it. You owe it to them and to
the rest of us, because once that person learns to read, there is no
saying what he or she is capable of.
