LAPS Manuals

• Main LAPS manual
• LAPS-ESL manual
• A-LAPS manual
• Grandir avec mon enfant

LAPS manuals contain facilitators' instructions, participants' handouts, and an outline of 10 to 12 - 2 1/2 hour sessions (which may be used sequentially or as stand-alone 'lessons'). Topics covered by these sessions include:

	Building Self-esteem In Your Children,
	Positive Discipline,
	Anger Management,
	Communication and Listening Skills,
	Nutrition,
	Safety,
	Conflict Management,
	Families,
	Ages and Stages,
as well as opening and closing sessions.

Low literacy materials based on parenting topics have been adapted to strengthen the literacy skills of the parents and to give them strategies to model good literacy practices with their children. Also included are tips for one-on-one tutors and a listing of children's resources and tips for using the resources regardless of the parent's literacy level.

Grandir avec mon enfant: LAPS is a translation and adaptation of the Literacy and Parenting Skills (LAPS) program. It is designed to meet the needs of francophones and francophiles interested in improving their parental and French literacy skills as well as in helping their child learn. The program is based on the learner-centered-approach and is offered in a safe and confidential environment. The program consists of ten modules. Each module is based on a theme and consists of a detailled plan for the facilitator and activity sheets for the participants. The activities have been developped to encourage the participants to participate and share as well as to further intergrate writing and reading into their daily life. They also serve to bring participants a greater awareness of their role as parents and as their child's first educator.

LAPS-ESL and A-LAPS
These manuals are designed to meet the learning needs and learning styles of a multi-cultural group and a First Nations/Metis group .

In the LAPS-ESL and Aboriginal LAPS manuals, sessions have been changed to reflect cross-cultural approaches and cultural sensitivity appropriate to the participants. As well, two new sessions have been created to deal with concerns specific to ESL and Aboriginal participants: Passing on Our Values and Traditions and Dealing with the School.

The materials in the A-LAPS program have been adapted by First Nations groups for use by parents, both in a rural and urban setting. A pre-session has been designed which will allow people to learn a little about their history and to acknowledge their feelings about that history and the impact that it has on them.

"Path to Learning" LAPS video

"Path to Learning" is a dynamic informational video which dramatically portrays the Literacy and Parenting Skills program as it operated in a variety of settings. Glimpses of Mainstream, English as a Second Language (ESL) and Aboriginal (A-LAPS) sessions reveal the strategies employed to encourage parents in their efforts to build on their current literacy and parenting skills and to assist in their children's language and literacy development. Information on community partnerships, facilitation skills and literacy facts are sprinkled throughout. However, it is the LAPS participants' sense of accomplishment and empowerment which is the most poignant celebration of the Literacy and Parenting Skills program.

To order a LAPS manual or "Path to Learning" video, please print off the following order form and mail it, with payment to the address on the order form.

•Click here for LAPS manual or video order form

LAPS-ESL Supplements
LAPS-ESL Supplementary Materials for Canadian Language Benchmarks
1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

In response to agencies who have asked for LAPS for lower level ESL students and for advanced ESL students, the LAPS team has created six new levels of LAPS which correspond to the Canadian Language Benchmarks. These new supplements should be used in conjunction with the LAPS-ESL manual. Since the original LAPS-ESL manual coincides with CLB levels 2 and 3, the new products allow facilitators working with ESL students to select a supplementary manual that suits the level that they are teaching. Activities and handouts are modified to conform to the criteria for each benchmark level.

Parent/Child Interactive Materials

Organizations who work with both parents and children (e.g. family resource centres, day cares, community schools) will enjoy the five new interactive parent/child activity sessions. The sessions are full of ideas to stimulate both parents and children and to enhance parents' ability to develop their children's language and literacy skills. The five topics chosen from the LAPS program - Building Self-esteem in our Children; Positive Discipline; Schools; Listening to Children; Talking to Our Children - can be used as stand-alone sessions, or in conjunction with the LAPS-ESL manual.

Selected Articles of Interest to Parents

For organizations who have participants with literacy skills from grade 4 - 6, four parenting articles have been created on issues of interest: Children & TV; Skills That Will Help Pre-School Children (when they go to school); Families and Conflict; Self-esteem.

Annotated Bibliography of Children's Resources

Culturally sensitive children's books suitable for immigrant and aboriginal children have been chosen to expand the bibliography of children's resources. These books have been carefully selected to complement the specific topics in the manuals and can be found in the library system. Readers are encouraged to use inter-library loan systems across the country if the purchase of children's resources is difficult.