Essential Skills in Everyday Life
Transcript
00:00A lot of people look at essential skills
00:02as being something that's used in the workplace.
00:04Whereas when we look at the essential skills in family literacy,
00:08we're saying that it's something that's happening in the home.
00:12Parents may not be looking to go out into the workplace,
00:15but they use the nine essential skills daily.
00:19They're skills that they use in everyday life.
00:21They're skills that help them run their homes,
00:23run in the community.
00:25So we like to say that we enhance the skills that are happening
00:30rather than building or embedding them in programming.
00:34So we use all the skills
00:37in all the family literacy programs.
00:41Parents don't necessarily know what the skills are,
00:43so we help them figure it out.
00:45A grocery store is, if things are buy one, get one free,
00:48or if you have to buy ten to get the deal.
00:50Is it really a good deal?
00:52Are you really needing those items?
00:53We work that into our reading and writing classes
00:55as well as our math classes
00:56to really help people with their everyday life
00:58and what works for them.
01:01The change that we see in learners
01:02is dependent on what their goal is.
01:05If their goal is to do math for academic upgrading,
01:07then finding out about sales
01:09or what 30% off $100 means isn't relevant,
01:12but if they're there for everyday life,
01:14like a lot of our learners are,
01:15just improve their skills for self-betterment,
01:17then you see those changes for sure.
01:19It's very important for them to know what those numbers are,
01:22and it makes math, or just reading and writing,
01:24so much easier for them
01:25to want to work hard at and improve on
01:27if it's relevant to them immediately.
01:30That immediate gratification is a huge part of it
01:32just like it is for everyone.
01:33I want to see results immediately in anything I do,
01:35and so do they.
01:36We've done a number of workshops
01:38on essential skills in the home too.
01:40And what I've done is given them
01:45a scenario and said,
01:47"Find the essential skills that are in there,"
01:49and they say, "Oh, we don't do it."
01:51So when you're singing a rhyme, oh, there's no numeracy in that.
01:54Well, all you've got to do is sing a counting song,
01:57and there's numeracy.
02:00Recognizing those skills that are there.
02:03I think using essential skills in my work has helped me realize
02:06how much I use all nine every day in almost everything I do.
02:09And it's easy to look at that list of nine and be like,
02:12"Oh, yeah, this is relevant to students,"
02:13but it's really relevant to all of us in living, learning and working
02:16every single day in everything we do.
02:18At the time that they come into a program,
02:20they might not be thinking about work.
02:22Or it might be a grandparent who's bringing a child
02:26so we help them understand
02:28or help them learn to transfer that knowledge
02:32into other things.
02:33So a mom who is able to
02:37run her household is doing budget.
02:40She's doing numeracy,
02:41She's doing all kinds of skills that she doesn't actually realize
02:46and she may decide, three or four years from now,
02:49it's time to go back into the workforce or the kids are in school,
02:53so she's going to go work part-time
02:54but doesn't know the skills that she has.
02:58A big piece that we found,
02:59especially with people trying to gain employment,
03:01is that they have to apply online,
03:02so if they don't have those computer skills,
03:04are hitting some problems.
03:05Even when they go in person with a resume
03:07and they try to apply that way,
03:08and lots of places have been telling them,
03:10"Awesome but apply online.
03:11"That's how we accept applications."
03:13So, even for Walmart,
03:14it's a 15 to 20-minute online application
03:18with lots of questions and with the fill-in blanks, check-off boxes.
03:22And so, if you don't know how to do that,
03:23that's holding you back from that employment option,
03:25which you could be great at,
03:26but it's very discouraging.
03:28So we try to help students around that
03:30with our computer class
03:31and teaching them about how to do that,
03:33helping them through that process.
03:34But we do also try to help them identify,
03:37so why can't you do this?
03:38Are you lacking computer skills?
03:40Are you lacking a resume?
03:42We try to transition them into programs at our center
03:44or other community agencies that are doing that stuff.
03:47There's a lot of great agencies.
03:48There's no point in duplicating services.
03:50We run a program in between classes called Social Connections,
03:53so it's an opportunity for anyone, regardless of their literacy level,
03:57to come together once a month for lunch.
03:59We provide some snacks, and we all just hang out.
04:00We do different things.
04:01We've done artwork. We watched documentaries.
04:03We've done Lego, just board games.
04:06All that stuff just to try to bring people together.
04:08We're only open until 4:30.
04:10So, once we close, they also live in that community.
04:13So, hopefully, they can make connections, make friendships
04:15so that if they need help, or if they're lonely,
04:17they have other people in the community now
04:18who they can connect with and work on their skills with.