REFLECTIONS
Mix a little bit of adrenalin with a lot of excess energy and you get a willing volunteer.
That willing volunteer can help youngsters to learn to read. My granddaughter is a special education teacher in Arizona, and it is her mission to help youngsters in grades kindergarten through fifth grade learn to read.
It is most rewarding, Kaley says, to see youngsters overcome challenges in reading.
Volunteers are always needed to help youngsters to learn how to read. In Blooming Prairie, many volunteers take their own time to sit down and help kids to learn how to read.
Go to the internet and pick up some tips on how you can help kids to learn how to read.
According to the organization’s website, readingpartners.org, “Reading Partners is a national nonprofit that mobilizes communities to provide students with the proven, individualized reading support they need to read at grade level by fourth grade.”
Reading “is the foundation for all future learning. The ability to read transforms lives and empowers children and communities to reach their full potential. Research shows that students who read at grade level by fourth grade have a greater opportunity to succeed in school and beyond.”
That’s why Reading Partners “works with under-resourced schools and engage(s) volunteer reading partners to work one-on-one with students who struggle with reading. Volunteers provide hour-long tutoring sessions to students, following a structured, evidence-based curriculum developed with an expert team of curriculum advisors.”
The organization says their work is “backed by evidence-based research which proves that our students make significant gains in reading.”
The Internet tells more about Reading Partners, which is “committed to ensuring that students gain the critical reading skills needed to prepare them for academic, social, and civic success.”
Their model evaluates “multiple data sources”, such as an annual student assessment and other activities, “to generate knowledge, improve programs, and report on impacts.”
“Reading Partners asks Minnesotans to dedicate an hour a week to help make a lifelong impact on a child who may be struggling with reading,” the website continues.
The website also includes this comment from Reading Partners volunteer Sonia Castellani, who has volunteered since 2010:
“My first impression of Reading Partners was that the program can help struggling students. I was excited when my student completed his first book report at home and gave a very complete and descriptive explanation of the story. I find joy in giving, helping, and encouraging my student to grow. It is rewarding.”
I can remember learning how to read in my one-room country school, grades 1-6. We also volunteered to add wood to our stove, which was our only means of heat at the Magnuson Country School.
Don’t forget to read another book next week.