The 9 Essential Skills of Christmas

Reading Text: Read "Olivia helps with Christmas" to your niece and nephew. When your nephew points out, "Olivia sounds just like Mommy!" your heart explodes, just a bit. 

Document Use: Overhear the Japanese exchange student who boards with you (in Vancouver) planning a day trip to Banff to see the Rockies in winter. Get out a map of Canada and a map of Japan, and explain how to read the scale guide. 

Numeracy: Spend all afternoon with a calculator to figure out that on a 1440 watt circuit, at 4.8 watts per string of LED lights, you can have 300 strings of lights plugged into one circuit. Get 100 strings of lights hooked up. When the house goes dark, realize that you've plugged into the same circuit that runs your son's gaming PC. 

Writing: Decide that you are going to write down Nana's sacred family recipes for posterity. Is "about yay much flour" a metric or Imperial measurement?

Oral Communication: Explain to your nine-year-old why becoming Jewish would not result in her receiving eight times the presents. 

Working With Others: After an epic, three-hour battle between your sister and your wife over which stuffing recipe to serve at Christmas dinner, finally persuade them to solve the problem like adults: let Rock, Paper, Scissors decide. 

Continuous Learning: Spend an hour researching the connection between shovelling snow and heart attacks. Leave the information open on the computer screen where your wife can see it. Relax with a malt beverage and the hockey game while she orders your teen to clear the driveway. 

Thinking Skills: Solve the following: You live in Kamloops. Your sister Susan lives in Comox; Uncle Gil lives in Prince George. The BC weather forecast for the holidays calls for -10 to -15 with chance of flurries, and possible white-out conditions. Susan has three kids under five; Gil drinks too much. Where do you spend Christmas? Answer: Las Vegas.  

Computer Use: 

• Decide you are going to order books online for everyone's presents.
• Browse the website, select books, and try to pay. 
• The system says you have an account already, and must log in. You don't remember an account, but click "password reminder" anyway. 
• It says you don't have an account, but you are a rewards member, so "click here" to configure your rewards account. 
• Click there. 
• It asks for a bunch of numbers you don't have, from some junk mail you tossed. 
• Keep clicking around for 10 minutes before you realize the truth: there is no way to give the store money, and get goods in return. 
• Google "symptoms of an aneurysm".  

Reach a Reader

The Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy provides free literacy programs for all ages in the Elk Valley, and 15 other communities in the East and West Kootenays. To support our work, we are partnering with Black Press and the Fernie Ghostriders in a Kootenay-wide fundraising campaign called "Reach a Reader".

On October 6th, you can help us "reach a reader" by making a donation in exchange for a Fernie Free Press. Members of the Fernie Ghostriders will be "selling" papers in Fernie at Extra Foods, Overwaitea, and downtown. Instead of picking up your Free Press from your normal location, consider purchasing one from the Ghostriders!

For more information on the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, go to www.cbal.org.

International Literacy Day - Literacy for Peace

Growing up, I loved making plans for my life. I would say, “When I grow up, I’m going to learn a second language,” or “I’m going to go to university”, or “I’m going to travel.” These were not lofty dreams and goals; they were entirely possible, and even probable. I would argue that many Canadian youth dream about and expect the same things. All that really stands in our way are our abilities and inclinations.

I take these freedoms so for granted, that I rarely think about what makes them possible for me. And I definitely do not think about the millions of people in the world who are not free to pursue their own desires, or develop their potential. The society in which I live has developed systems that make it possible for me to bypass concern for my basic needs in order to reach to higher pursuits.

This year’s International Literacy Day theme, “Literacy for Peace”, prompted me to ask the question, “Why am I able to be and do almost anything when so many others are not?” Of course, part of the answer is this year’s theme. My country is among the most literate, and most peaceful in the world. My country guarantees that I receive a high quality, free education; they also ensure that I am safe and secure. These two privileges allow me to go and be and do.

So what makes Canada so literate and peaceful? The answer is complex, but I believe it is important to recognize the strong connection between peace and literacy. Our ability to read and write makes it possible to know and understand. Knowing and understanding help us participate in democracy. They also assist us in building relationships with people who differ from us. These two activities alone promote peace; conversely, without them, we would be at the mercy of our ignorance and prejudices.

This article is not meant to be self-congratulatory. Yes, I am proud and thankful to live in Canada, but by no means do I think our work is done. It is a lot more difficult to be literate in 2011 than it was even fifteen years ago. The amount of information available to us means that our ability to find, analyze, synthesize and evaluate text must be very sophisticated. If we are not able to do these things, we relinquish our right to interpret the facts to individuals who are more advanced information processors.

As soon as we give up our ability to know and understand, we surrender our capacity to participate effectively in the democratic process. The qualities of our country that allow us to realize our individual potentials are maintained through our intelligent and informed decisions. If we lose the skills to become intelligent and informed, how can expect to retain our privileged Canadian rights? Democracy and peace are hard won, not by governments, but by citizens.

International Literacy Day will be celebrated around the world this September 8th. There are many amazing projects taking place to improve literacy levels and promote peace (check out UNESCO’s website for more information). I hope, though, that you also think of International Literacy Day as your day too. We live in an incredible place, with unmatched opportunities. Let’s celebrate it! Let’s continue to work for it!

A new educational format

Check out this Ted Talk.  If you feel that education is not changing quickly enough with the times, this is an interesting alternative!

http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html

Webcast on Self-Regulation in Children

Check out this webcast on self-regulation in children!

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/early_learning/webcasts1.htm

More Sir Ken Robinson on Education

Cool Video on Education Paradigms!

Literacy Is Like Velcro

Check out this video about the importance of literacy!