Life Skills Training

The Further Education Society of Alberta (FESA) offers a variety of life and literacy skills training programs to support foundational learners in their employment journeys. Each of the following programs are available to learners looking to build Skills for Success in the workplace and in everyday life. 

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Indigenous Literacy and Parenting Skills (I-LAPS) is a program designed for people with an Indigenous background who may need help in assisting their children’s literacy development and who may wish to talk about their parenting strategies. The program consists of twelve sessions of 2–2.5 hours each as well as handouts in two different levels to be copied and distributed to the participants. The classes are structured in such a way as to be appropriate for lower levels of English speakers or for intermediate speakers. The program also encourages participants to examine their own literacy development and to begin the process of improvement.

 

Sessions:

1. Speaking and Listening

2. Passing on Our Values and Traditions

3. Schools and Our Children

4. Building Self-Esteem in Our Children

5. Emotional Wellness for Families

6. Talking to Our Children

7. Discipline

8. Grocery Shopping

9. Let’s Talk About Food

10. Budgeting

11. Journey Through Grief and Loss

12. Celebration - Families as Teams

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Financial Literacy is a program developed for adults who want to take the first steps in building their financial literacy skills and confidence. The sessions have been designed for low-literate learners and for those with lower levels of formal education. Fun, interactive group activities are informal, strengths-based and culturally respectful. Optional activities are provided for any parents in a group who wish to share learning with their children. Facilitators pick and choose from sessions and activities depending on the needs and interests of each group.

 

Participants are active in the learning process as they select, reflect on, adapt and use activities relevant to their own needs and interests. They gain greater confidence in their abilities to think and converse about money matters, read documents, fill in forms, make financial decisions, and pass knowledge to the children in their lives.

 

Example: After completing our IWLC program, some participants pursue further education. Many have found our Financial Literacy program helpful in learning how to budget their school or living expenses.     

 

Sessions:

1. Introductory Session

2. Coins and Bills, Making Change

   • All About Money

3. Wise Spending

   • Grocery Shopping

   • Stretching Our Money

4. Money, Habits and Feelings

   • Exploring Feelings about Money

   • Talking About Money with Family and Friends

5. Using Your Money

   • Needs and Wants

   • Budgeting

   • Goals and Dreams, Tracking and Spending

   • Budgeting and Tracking

   • Understanding Pay

6. Banking

   • Banking

   • Cash, Credit, Debit

7. Borrowing Money

8. Celebrating Our Learning

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Introduction to Online Learning is a program designed for low-literate Indigenous learners who face barriers to accessing online supports. Digital literacy skills are becoming increasingly important as supports and services for marginalized populations transition to an online environment. This transition creates challenges for Indigenous learners facing low-literacy, many of whom lack the basic digital literacy skills necessary to succeed in an online learning environment.

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Indigenous Parenting After Violence

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