HCF funds the YOUth Create after-school program in the McQuesten neighbourhood. Its focus is on fitness, nutrition, health, well-being and the arts. Read about their activities in Canadian Cyclist magazine.

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Reading Tutors Boost Scores and Confidence

The focus of Neighbour to Neighbour’s reading tutor program is on words, but numbers tell the story. Of almost 200 students in Grades 1 to 3 who participated last year, 97 percent improved their reading assessment scores, says Deban Brunette, Neighbour to Neighbour educational program co-ordinator. All were reading below grade level when they joined the program.

Students work one-on-one with their tutors for three 20-minute sessions each week from October to May. The relationships that develop between tutors and students are key, says Brunette. “It’s an unbelievable confidence boost, somebody believing they will do well.”

“ We love it,” says Wes Hahn, principal of R.A. Riddell, one of ten Mountain schools from both boards involved in the program. “When we talk about supports for students who are at-risk, we always mention the tutor program. We know it makes a difference.”

Hahn emphasizes the importance of catching kids early. “Students need to acquire reading skills between kindergarten and Grade 2. Neighbour to Neighbour offers supports at a really critical time.”

It all began eight years ago, inspired by Neighbour to Neighbour’s Mountain-based food bank clients who could not afford private tutors for children who were struggling with reading. “There is a perception that poverty doesn’t exist on the Mountain,” says Brunette. “The profile may be different, but the impact is the same.”

Supported by grants from the Edith H. Turner Foundation Fund and the Russell I. Elman Fund, the program is popular: there’s a waiting list, and plans for expansion to two new Mountain schools in fall 2011.

Long-term sustainability is a firm goal, but the training tools, manipulatives and books required by the program can be expensive.

“ This is not a reading buddy program,” clarifies Brunette. She describes it as a rigorous tutoring program that is linked to classroom curriculum and utilizes best practices, including more than 100 highly committed and trained volunteers. "It's not a program that exists anywhere else."

 

Vital Signs Facts • Hamilton children are slightly below the provincial average in school readiness • 42% of Canadians fall below the desired literacy level for coping with the demands of a knowledge-based economy