Fall 2003 Newsletter
Summer Students Graduate in Style
It was a busy summer at The Reading Window with lots of students, three tutors, and an uncooperative air-conditioning. Our 10-week summer session included ten students who logged a total of 355 hours. It’s encouraging to have received enough funds, through grants and personal donations, to provide almost 55 percent of tuition as scholarships.
Students were given an extra chance to shine with a formal graduation ceremony. The children who finished the summer program read books they had mastered, heard praise from tutors, enjoyed dessert with family members in attendance, got gift certificates from The New Dominion Bookshop, and received their certificates of achievement.
At eh beginning of the summer, one parent told us a story about her child standing in front of an assembly, unable to read the story he wrote for his class presentation. This was an awful experience for the child and his parent. So when he read some paragraphs from Harry Potter at graduation, his mother was practically glowing.
While there was a lot of fun at the school this summer, it was the hard work and dedication, by our tutors, students and their parents, that made the process of reading more accessible. For those students who have moved on, we hope for their continued success in school and in life.
Hands on Reading: Keep it Real for Young Readers
Oftentimes, we find that our students consider reading an academic exercise, unrelated to “real life.” At The Reading Window, we employ a variety of techniques to change this perception and to make reading more enjoyable and relevant. We try to give children a choice of reading materials on topics of interest to them. Then, we bring in unfamiliar objects mentioned or shown in the book, so students can experience them first hand.
During our summer session, a tutor brought in a sample of pyrite crystals for one young man when he came across references to “fool’s gold” in a story about the Gold Rush, a banjo for him to play because he did not recognize the instrument in an illustration of wagon train travel, and a small terrarium planted with several types of moss when he had difficulty visualizing a tiger sleeping on a mossy bank by the river. This method of building vocabulary excites and delights learners.
We would encourage you to watch for similar opportunities to enrich young readers’ experiences of the world and to increase their appreciation of the written word. For example, if a story about Red Riding Hood show Grandma crocheting a doily, why not get your child a crochet hook and some colorful yarn and show her how (or find a friend or relative who can)? If she likes to crochet, you could take her to the library to look for a book with pictures of and instructions for some crochet projects. In this way, your child will learn that books are a good source of creative ideas and useful information.
Fluvanna Commute Proves Worthwhile
Last spring we had our first student from Fluvanna enroll in our program. After failing grades and several suspensions due to disciplinary problems, a mentor from H.O.P.E. Mentor Services was enlisted to help the 7th grader get back on track. The Fluvanna County school system agreed to pay half of the tuition for his first session at the Reading Window, and H.O.P.E. education specialist Bobbi Johnson committed to both transporting him and participating in the tutoring.
When he started, AC was reading at a second grade leve, which meant he was barely reading. Finding books near his reading level that would hold the interest of a 7th grader proved to be a challenge. Fortunately, with help from a Louisa librarian, a selection of beginning reader books written for adults were assembled for AC to choose from. Two veteran tutors, Heather Haines and Reading Window creator Piper Martin, worked daily to improve AC’s skills and boost his reading confidence.
Fluvanna administrators were so impressed with AC’s progress in his first 6-week Reading Window session that they decided to pay full tuition for his second session.
“Through the partnership between Ms. Martin and Ms. Johnson… this client has shown remarkable improvement in grades and behavior,” says Rick Waugh Jr., Director of H.O.P.E. “This program has renewed motivation in improving his reading skills, thus allowing him to stay out of trouble in school as he can better understand his school work.”
Grants and Donations Sponsor Many Students
So far we’ve had enough funds from donors to provide almost 55 percent of tuition as scholarships, helping us in our goal to teach children who are struggling to read regardless of their financial situation. We’d like to extend a big thanks to The Bama Works Foundation, CVS, Wal-Mart, and The Watterson Foundation for their valuable contributions. We are also grateful to New Dominion Bookshop for providing gift certificates to all our summer session graduates.
Our New Tutor
We’re happy to welcome aboard Ben Campbell who began tutoring, writing grants, and working on program development and outreach this summer. The favorite thing he has done so fas was organize the graduation. “It was the best reward for tutoring I could think of getting to see a roomful of parents glowing from hearing their children read so well.”
Ben has been involved with children since he was in high school where he coached the boys soccer team for four years and organized a chess club he taught for three years. About working at The Reading Window he says “It’s good to be working with kids again and very rewarding to be teaching such a valuable skill.”
It’s also great to have longtime tutor Heather Haines back with all her experience. She logged many hours this summer and fall helping kids work toward reading at their grade level.