“One of my kids was shy to read, so we started by me reading most of the book and him reading just one word or phrase. Now he wants to read the whole book to me!”
September 2004
Shelter Tutoring Program Complete Second Year
The program saw some changes after the end of its first year. The first being the program has become known as Links to Literacy. The second change was seen in the resource of tutors. The program now recruits UT work-study students as literacy tutors through the America Reads federal work-study initiative that places university student tutors in the community.
The environment of the shelter is very different from the environment of a school, where most tutoring programs take place. The families living at the shelter are in transition, having left unhealthy and very often dangerous relationships. When a child's life is in turmoil, learning becomes difficult and can often cause the child to slip behind his/her peers. Links to Literacy provides instruction to help fill-in-the-gaps of a child's knowledge while in the program.
The children in the program receive one-on-one tutoring twice a week using a lesson plan based on the ACEE model. The lesson consists of four components: read aloud, the child reads, phonological awareness/word study and lastly writing. The tutors receive initial and ongoing on-site training/support in planning lessons. Links to Literacy had 15 tutors and tutored 53 children over the course of the 2003-2004 school year.
Due to the nature of the shelter, which is only meant to be a temporary setting, the average amount of time a child received tutoring this year was 3-4 weeks. A child cannot be brought up to grade level in that amount of time, but the program does aspire to successfully attain three goals. These goals are:
- Engage the child in literacy
- Improve academic confidence
- Improve literacy skills
Here are a few quotes taken from Links to Literacy tutors about the successes they have seen in the children they tutored:
"I noticed my child learned more sight words, she got more confidence in her reading skills and her comprehension of story elements (plot, setting) grew."
"I helped my child learn all the letters in the alphabet and helped him read his first book!"
"One of my kids was shy to read, so we started by me reading most of the book and him reading just one word or phrase. Now he wants to read the whole book to me!" Links to Literacy will continue to tutor the children of Safe Place for the 2004-2005 school year. This tutoring initiative is a collaboration between ACEE and the Texas Homeless Education Office (THEO), both housed at the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin.