Foundational Skills

Community Adult Learning Programs focus on foundational skills. Foundational skills are:

A base. They facilitate the more rapid acquisition of other skills and knowledge.

Like Velcro. Other learning sticks to foundational skills. 

A stepping stone. They are prerequisites for other learning.

Necessary for everyday life. They are transferable to home, work, and the community. 

Literacy is the learning to learn skill. First, we learn to read then we read to learn. (Case for Literacy in Alberta)

All skills are made up of components. Every foundational skill includes components. Reading, for example, is made up of five key components:

Foundational skills can be learned, demonstrated, and repeated. Practitioners introduce the first step, allow time to practice, introduce the next step, practice again and repeat this process. 

Systematic instruction is a deliberate sequence where each step builds on the previous one in a logical, predictable order.