BUSINESS eacon Literacy targets | learning ait international program helps school-age kids Jan-Christian Sorensen News Reporter joorensen@nsnews.com A unique international literacy pro- gram has taken root in North Vancouver. Beacon Literacy program developer Philip MacMillan was recently in North Vancouver to visit the satellite centre that opened in January in Delbrook Plaza. MacMillan said he first conceived the idea for the program after he noticed one of his children struggling in school. “My youngest son had a litde bit of difficulty learning when he was at school and I just could- n’t get any sense out of the school system at all. They kept telling me it would happen and it did- n't.” The pi is geared toward individuals of all ages and from all walks of life, but can most benefit school-age children with difficulties. Ic also can assist individuals that suffer from learning disorders such as dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD). The system has also been proven effective in teaching English as a second language. . The unique approach centres around getting the individual to learn skills in the voice they rec- ognize best — their own. “Basically it feeds the child’s voice back into the child’s head to teach them what they need to ‘learn because the voice you learn best from is always your own. It’s the voice you think in.” - MacMillan, centred in Calgary since 1985, hails from Glasgow, Scotland — a fact which his distinct accent cannot belie. * He’s currently working toward a Ph.D. in iculties educational psychology at the University of Exeter in the west of England. MacMillan’s approach differs from other, more phonetically-based literacy programs. “We work with the subskills,” he said. “The neurological and cog subskills of reading. We use the phonics, syllabies, sentences and comprehension ... we took at the whole process of reading. It's actually a complex process and the complexity comes in making all these litte parts work together.” When a person first enters the program an assessment is performed to determine what grade level the individual is at and what specific difficulties they might be experiencing. They then structure the program around the specitic needs of that individual. “We make the program fit the individual, not the student fit the program,” said MacMillan, While some people improve rather quickly, others may struggle before finding their way, but Beacon offers a full guarantee — within 20 ses- sions word recognition skills will increase by at least a grade. “Our guarantee is one full grade but kids usu- ally make two, if net more.” The Beacon program. has currently been adopted by 120 schools in 12 U.S. states and nine schools in the U.K. The program has been centred! in Calgary since 1992. MacMillan said the main benefit of the program is that it encourages children to be self-reliant and in charge of their own learn- ing pace. “Te gets the child's self-esteem up, because we actually put chem in charge of i it. They're respon- sible. They teach themselves.” Sessions usually cost about $65 and a mini- mum of 20 is recommended for results. For more information, call the Beacon Literacy Centre in North Vancouver at 983- 3322 or visit . - Small business on the climb in B.C. “B.C. led the country in province and 52% of all jobs. domestic product created by ’- small business growth "over the past decade, According to the report, B.C. is also the province with the highest proportion of gross the small business sector at 33%, compared to the national average of 26%. Sunday, October 29, 2000 - North Shore News - 21 NEWS photo Mike Wakefield - BEACON Literacy program developer Philip MacMilian fecently visited his pro- gram’s North Vancouver headquarters in Delbrceok Plaza. acccrding to a new fed- ~eral-provincial report. on" The report, entided “Small Busiziess Profile 2000”, shows ‘the number of small businesses in B.C. grew from 216,000 in .1990 to 358,000 in 1999 — "an increase of 62%. High tech- . nology, tourism and secondary | manufacturing, considered the “~ components of the new econo-- “my, all: experienced - strong small business “growth from 1994 to 1999. The report also » shows small businesses account for 98% ofall businesses in the : CHANGE 2 J ! $90 on 2 | SGQ™2F ; ANY PACKAGE The new technology to change Most exe f cas & 100% of your automatic © Up to 5L of 10W30 transmission fluid. 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