People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
~Theodore Roosevelt
I had every intention of writing a post on John H. Patterson, the industrialist, but having gone to the library and finding out that the book wasn’t available, I pivoted as opposed to missing a consecutive post. On that note, this topic is in regards to values which were discussed in more detail in “Establishing Values for Your Small Business (Complimentary Assessment).”
A few weeks ago, I’d completed the volunteer tutor orientation with the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. Some facts to share:
- More than 36 million Americans cannot read, write or do basic math above a third grade level.
- One in six young adults — more than 1.2 million — drop out of high school every year.
- Two million immigrants come to the US each year, and about 50% of them lack high school education and proficient English language skills.
Literacy, or lack thereof, happens to be a cause close to my heart for two reasons:
- My maternal grandmother — nicknamed Manmanman — never learned to read nor write, and growing up I’d erroneously promised to teach her both.
- Having moved to the US in the early ’90s, I remember my mom’s experience with learning English while attending the Adult Education Center.
So working with both English Language Learners (ELL), as well as individuals lacking in that area is important. Without further ado, I will share some great resources provided by Megan and Jeanne at the session… my favorite being the Free Rice website for idle fun and the belief that I’m contributing to some sort of passive social good.
If this is something that you’re looking to become involved with, contact your local literacy center.
There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.
~Walt Disney
Florida Literacy Coalition
The Florida Literacy Coalition provides a range of services to support more than 300 adult education, literacy and family literacy providers throughout Florida. Special emphasis is placed on assisting community based literacy organizations with their training and program development needs.
ProLiteracy
In 2002, Laubach Literacy International and Literacy Volunteers of America, two of the world’s oldest and largest adult literacy organizations, merged to create ProLiteracy. The merger created more educational opportunities for adult learners through an expanded national network and new international initiatives. ProLiteracy promotes adult literacy through content development, programs, and advocacy.
Marshall Adult Education
The mission of Adult Basic Education in Minnesota is to provide adults with educational opportunities to acquire and improve their literacy skills necessary to be self-sufficient and to participate effectively as productive workers, family members, and citizens.
GCF Learnfree
The GCFLearnFree.org program has helped millions around the world learn the essential skills they need to live and work in the 21st century. From Microsoft Office and email, to reading, math, more than 7,000 lessons, more than 1,000 videos, and more than 50 interactives and games, completely free.
ESL Fast
ESL Fast offers a huge free online English learning resource, thousands of conversations, short stories, and essays with audio and exercises for listening, speaking, reading.
Guide to Grammar & Writing
The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on writing — from basic problems in subject-verb agreement and the use of articles to exercises in parallel structures and help with argumentative essays, and a way to submit questions about grammar and writing.
ESL: English as a Second Language
ESL: English as a Second Language is a large free Web English-learning resource with thousands of conversations and essays, audio and exercises for improving listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
