Spring Conference 2002
Professional development for Laubach tutors

Laubach tutors from across the province will gather in Kamloops April 11-14 for the third annual spring conference, entitled   Learning for Life - Reaching your Peak.

The conference will highlight several workshops on learning disabilities. Many of our adult literacy students missed learning opportunities early in life because of undiagnosed learning disabilities. We can be better tutors if we can understand our students' challenges.

"Screening for Success" is a two day workshop which aims to help tutors recognize and deal with different kinds of learning disabilities experienced by their students. Developed by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (LDAC), the two-day session will be conducted by LLBC President Peg Beaton and Jan Seedhouse, Field Services Coordinator, BC Interior.

A workshop on helping to identify hearing problems will be presented by audiologist Dan Allen. Hearing can be a major factor in students' ability to learn reading and writing. We have to be able to accurately hear words and sentences so that we are able to break them down phonetically and learn how they are constructed.

There are two half-day sessions on family literacy as well. Often a person's reading abilities are dependent upon the learning culture of the home. If parents can't read, or don't encourage reading, it is unlikely that the children will be good readers. The family literacy sessions will examine the range of solutions available to encourage and promote reading in the home.

There will be sessions on board development and on maintaining a Laubach Literacy Council, a session on writing tips for ESL students, plus a panel discussion with both tutors and students.

There's fun too!

Laubach tutors are a sociable bunch, so there's likely to be lots of friendly conversation at and around the workshops, as well as during the lunch breaks. (Lunch is included in the conference registration fees.)

Saturday evening will end with a roast beef banquet complete with musical entertainment, door prizes, awards and a silent auction.

Sunday morning the Board of Laubach Literacy of British Columbia will meet to review its plan of action for the coming year.

Invite your literacy student

As always, students are especially welcomed to attend the Conference. There are two workshop sessions for students. At one of the sessions, students will consider the possibility of forming a TREE organization in BC.

TREE (Teamwork to Raise Education and Equality) is a national initiative of Laubach Literacy of Canada which has the goal of increasing student involvement, participation and dedication to political action and public awarness about literacy in Canada. (For more information contact Pennyann Tibbits, national TREE coordinator, toll free: 1-877-872-8685, Email: tibbitts@csolve.net