Another program that might work well is the Early Head Start program.
Like Head Start, they are a federal program for families at 100% of
poverty, but serve instead of 3 and 4 year olds, it targets pregnant
women and children to age 3.  Might be some partnership opportunities
out there.

Books change life for the better-ReadOn!

Susan L. Perez
Early Literacy Specialist
Center for Reading & Literacy
Martin County Library System

Office: 772-221-1401
Cell: 772- 263-0480

The Blake Library
2351 SE Monterey Road
Stuart, FL 34996


-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Melanie Coyne
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 7:56 PM
To: The Adult English Language Acquisition Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 5035] Re: Under served adults

Congratulations on going with what works Amanda. We have an
infant/toddler class as a part of our family literacy program with one
lead teacher and two assistants. We use the Creative Curriculum for
Toddlers and Twos as a basis for the class design. We are also using the
Hanen "You Make the Difference" for part of our parenting component.
Both of these curriculums focus on early language development and
strategies to enhance that development.

Melanie Coyne
Literacy Program Manager
Skagit County Community Action Agency 
330 Pacific Place / P.O. Box 1507 
Mount Vernon, WA 98273 
(360)416-7585 
melaniec at skagitcap.org
www.skagitcap.org


-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Amanda Potter
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 6:31 AM
To: The Adult English Language Acquisition Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 5025] Re: Under served adults

Hi Linda,
  I work with immigrants under the umbrella of Family Literacy, so when
we began classroom-based services this year (previously we had been
doing solely home visits, which was good for the families but highly
inefficient for us) we decided have an ECE classroom as well as a
classroom for adults.  We have two to three teachers (depending on
numbers) working with the children, ages birth to three, while I teach
the adults.  Once a week we are together for interactive literacy and
parenting practice time.  I have a couple pregnant students; the plan is
to keep the newborns in class with the moms until they are old enough to
interact a bit, then move them down to the ECE classroom.
   So far this has been working fairly well.  It has the added benefit
of getting small children used to the classroom experience while not
overwhelming them with long hours (our classes are only two hours).
Once they reach the age of three, we start looking at other appropriate
ECE placement for them, such as Head Start or Pre-K.  This has helped
our classroom teachers by limiting the age range they have to work with.
Still, birth to three is a big range and that's definitely a challenge
for them!
   Another challenge has been transportation.  Very few of our moms
drive.  After debating our options, we have decided to run an agency van
for pickups for those who need it--which means we have to deal with car
seats and the liabilities there.  It's not a perfect solution for sure,
but for now, it's working.  
  So...that's how we're dealing with moms!  :)


Amanda Potter
Family Literacy Supervisor

________________________________________
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of selover200 at comcast.net
[selover200 at comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 1:33 AM
To: The Adult English Language Acquisition Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 5020] Re: Under served adults

Paul, Blaire, and others:

The under-served adults:   Moms, and adults w/ low educational levels in
L1.

I teach Adult Ed at the local district level and the JC, classes funded
by CBET, but largely attended by singles, or people without children.
The JC class has child care, but not for babies.

Still, I think that the "moms" are under served largely because we have
no childcare for children under 3 or 4 years of age. I get moms in my
class, then they suddenly drop out when they have a new baby, not to
return until the new child reaches daycare/preschool age.  I am trying
to set up a class for "Moms w/ babes in arms" but then I get fed the
"insurance/liability" issues/ arguments.

We aren't covered to have younger children on campus, so I proposed that
we have a class at the elementary school for moms and babes, and because
w/ have no money for childcare, I suggested that we have them in the
same room, w/ moms caring for their own children.

I figured that I can teach moms how to read to their children if the
child is in their arms. After all, in many countries, moms carry their
babies all day long while they work, so why not while they learn.

Still, it is an uphill battle w/ bureaucracy.

Adults w/ low education levels in L1:  Most of my male students have an
ed level of 6th through 9th grade, and my female students 3rd to 6th
grade. However, I always have some that never went beyond 2nd or 3rd
grade.

It could be because they lived where there were no schools, or they had
to care for younger siblings, but I also wonder if they were taken out
of school because they had difficulty learning, w/ undiagnosed problems,
from poor vision to some type of dyslexia, or processing problems.

Adult Ed has no funds for tests to pinpoint problems, so we have to try
many different ways to help these students. Their attendance in class is
very irregular, and they are therefore always behind when they do come
to class. They are easily discouraged about their slow progress,
because they see other students passing them by.   I can't diagnose
learning disabilities, and I am therefore very reluctant to even mention
the possibility to students because I don't want them to feel worse
about their ability to learn.

I always suggest that they try out the reading glasses in the drug store
first to see if that helps, and for students in their 40s, it frequently
does help.

How do the rest of you deal w/ these problems?

Thanks,
Linda Selover

----- Original Message -----
From: "BLAIRE WILLSON TOSO" <bwt121 at psu.edu>
To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
Sent: Thursday, October 1, 2009 2:30:33 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 5015]  Second Language Acquisition, etc.

Paul -

Thanks for your response.  I think it highlights that there is a lot of
research to support different ideas and possibilities for teaching and
learning.   I simply wanted to acknowledge that there are other ways of
looking at the issue.  I continue to change my views about language
acquisition, teaching, and learning as I continue with my own education
and experience more things in life.

I don't at all debate that in our society literacy based learning is
considered "the way to go"; it is considered the source of modernity and
progress - For me, the debate surrounds the way we view literacy and how
it frames the way we think about people, how they should learn, what
needs to be taught, etc.  I underscore the part about how we think about
people that are not book literate as it has been the main population
with whom I have worked. Street, Scribner & Cole, or Collins & Blot take
up some of these issues (I believe you can find some of their works on
Google or Google Scholar) .  It does not replace the practical aspect of
teaching, rather it is informative to teaching, program development,
materials development, and administration.

Nor do I debate who your students are, nor that they are under served,
etc. - most anyone in ABE will acknowledge that.   But we also need to
explore why people drop out of classes; saying that it is because they
are under served or do not have enough materials simplifies the issue.
The women I have talked to have a lot of other reasons for not being
able to attend classes.  There are many structural issues that also
affect our learners that have little to do with education.  I would like
to be clear here - I am not advocating for not educating adults;
language acquisition and literacy are very important and instrumental in
success - I am saying that the topics you raise are complex.  I realize
this may be more of a diversity issue but it is also a part of my
teaching and research life.

Thanks,

Blaire

On Wed, Sep 30, 2009 02:17 PM, Paul Rogers <pumarosa21 at yahoo.com> wrote:
Blaire,
I am very glad you replied to my post, because you raise a lot of issues
that are important.
I would like to respond briefly here to one of your conclusions.
You say:"The way you lay out your argument below appears to indicate
that learners can not learn without materials and a teacher, privileging
both a literacy and class based view of learning based.  This has been
strongly contested in the adult education field."
- My response is-
Most of my students are low-income, Latino (usually Mexican) adults, the
majority of whom are women with children who have dropped out of
'official" classes for a number of reasons, and who remain under-served.
My job is to teach. I use my own texts, website, cds, etc.
And, yes, I do maintain that it is nearly impossible to learn a language
without adequate texts, books, etc.
I believe very strongly is a "literacy..based" approach, and would
suggest that the real issue here is that adult education programs do not
find the ways and means to provide educational materials to the
studnets.
( Note: Please show me where "This has been strongly contested in the
adult education field.")
Concerning the "Language Acquistion" versus "Language Learning" debate:
Well, anyone can Google the above and find a number of articles.
I downloaded the debate between Robert O'Neill and Stephen Krashen, and
I side with O'Neill.
You also state:
"Also the sequencing of language instruction and when to instruct also
has different theoretical camps, this topic also falls into the area of
Second Language Acquisition research (Chomsky, Krashen, Van Lier, Ellis,
etc.)."
This point gets to the heart of the matter, and on occasion I have
posted my views and methods, which can also be gleaned from my website.
Paul Rogers
805-258-3310
pumarosa21 at yahoo.com
PUMAROSA.COM





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