|
- What resources are available to address literacy needs?
- Who oversees the literacy efforts in wards and stakes?
- Where are literacy issues discussed?
- What things, in addition to learning to read and write, could be considered literacy needs?
- How can Relief Society leaders identify literacy needs?
- How can the programs of Relief Society be used to meet sisters’ literacy needs?
- How can opportunities for learning be provided and maintained?
- How can personal and family study of the gospel be encouraged?
- How can lifelong learning be encouraged?
1. What resources are available to address literacy needs?
Relief Society leaders determine what resources are available. Reputable community or private literacy programs in your area may be available to address these needs. Members may serve as literacy volunteers. The Church-produced literacy course, Ye Shall Have My Words, may also be used. Course materials may be ordered by a stake president, bishop, or Relief Society president from any Church distribution center using a Church unit number. In some areas, a CES coordinator may assist you in obtaining copies of these materials.
Can Ye Shall Have My Words be used to teach English as a second language?
Ye Shall Have My Words teaches individuals to read and write in the following languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. It is not designed as an English as a second language (ESL) program. Relief Society leaders should be aware of reputable ESL programs available in their communities.
When can Ye Shall Have My Words be implemented?
Stake and ward literacy efforts are determined by focusing on members’ needs. Stake presidents and bishops, together with Relief Society leaders, assess literacy needs and identify available resources in stake and ward council meetings. Where the need exists, some wards have used Ye Shall Have My Words lessons as optional Sunday lessons.
What kind of training should instructors receive prior to teaching the Ye Shall Have My Words course?
“This course has been written for teachers who have had little or no experience in teaching reading. If you can speak and read [the language you are to teach], this course will help you teach people who cannot read or write” (Ye Shall Have My Words Teacher’s Guide, Part 1 [1993], vi).
The course materials include a video that provides training for teachers.
2. Who oversees the literacy efforts in wards and stakes?
Relief Society leaders, together with the bishops and stake presidents, oversee the literacy programs in their respective units. The education counselor in a ward or stake coordinates the literacy effort under the direction of the Relief Society president. Together, they discuss literacy needs and make decisions about how to implement efforts in their ward or stake. (See "Relief Society," section 3 of the Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 204.)
3. Where are literacy issues discussed?
Literacy needs, which exist in one form or another in every Church unit, should regularly be agenda items for discussion in ward and stake council meetings. These needs also may be discussed in Relief Society presidency meetings, welfare meetings, regular meetings with priesthood leaders, and training meetings called by the stake education counselor. Literacy needs should always be addressed in a manner that is respectful of those members being served. Together, all auxiliary officers can help in identifying and assessing needs. (See "Relief Society," 204.)
4. What things, in addition to learning to read and write, could be considered literacy needs?
The following may be considered literacy needs: learning computer skills, completing a job application, writing a personal history, developing good study habits, and reading a map. Determine literacy needs as you come to know your sisters’ individual needs. Just remember: every individual, family, and Church unit has literacy needs.
5. How can Relief Society leaders identify literacy needs?
Ideally, Relief Society leaders know the individual sisters they serve well enough to have observed their literacy needs. However, these needs are not always obvious. The Relief Society education counselor has the responsibility to prayerfully gather literacy information from the sisters in her ward or stake. Sisters may request help in addressing literacy needs for themselves or their family members. Additional information may come through visiting teaching reports and interviews as well as discussions in ward and stake council and welfare meetings. As Relief Society leaders counsel in confidence with priesthood leaders about literacy needs, they should be sensitive to and respectful of the members they are serving. (See "Relief Society," 204.)
6. How can the programs of Relief Society be used to meet sisters’ literacy needs?
Leaders are encouraged to always plan Sunday lessons, home, family, and personal enrichment meetings and activities, and visiting teaching with the literacy and spiritual needs of their sisters in mind. Relief Society leaders should seek inspiration from the Lord in addressing both needs. All of our programs assist our sisters to “come unto Christ” (Moroni 10:32). (See "Relief Society," 204.)
7. How can opportunities for learning be provided and maintained?
The Relief Society programs are tools that may be used to provide sisters with a rich variety of opportunities to learn. Leaders should seek inspiration continually to know how best to identify learning needs and desires so they can plan with a purpose. Flexibility in administering programs allows leaders to use home, family, and personal enrichment activities or an optional Sunday class to address individual sisters’ needs and desires in this area. (See "Relief Society," 204.)
8. How can personal and family study of the gospel be encouraged?
As Relief Society leaders seek to encourage their sisters and their families to study the gospel, inspiration on how to plan and what to plan will come. Leaders can teach gospel study skills through Sunday lessons and home, family, and personal enrichment meetings and activities. Teachers can model the use of the personal study guide and the scriptures as they teach.
9. How can lifelong learning be encouraged?
Offering Relief Society sisters a variety of enrichment activities and experiences will help them develop a love of studying and learning. Through Sunday lessons, sisters have opportunities to read and discuss together scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets. They share testimony of the things they are learning. For additional suggestions for accomplishing the second purpose of the literacy effort, see "Relief Society," 204.
|
Serving in the Church
