The L.O.V.E. Letter ~ No. 16The Newsletter of Project L.O.V.E. ~
Spring 2004 ~
PO Box 2000 Charlottetown PE C1A 7N8 BOASTing about this thing called L.O.V.E.!Project L.O.V.E. stands for Let Older Volunteers Educate, and is our elementary school project. BOAST stands for Bringing Older Adults and Students Together, and we find BOAST volunteers in intermediate and high schools. In 37 schools across PEI, more than 270 very committed (mainly retired) older volunteers help students with their school work in various areas. In the elementary program, help is usually in that most important area, reading. L.O.V.E. Volunteers go to their school once a week, spending between an hour and a whole morning or afternoon in the school. They usually help one student at a time, listening and coaching them with words, reading aloud to model good pronunciation and expression for them, helping with classroom projects or to get caught up on missed assignments. BOAST Volunteers are more flexible - some visit the school once a week, while others work on short-term projects, which may involve more visits over a shorter period of time. The volunteer work is usually focussed on the areas of expertise of the volunteer. Teachers whose students work with the Project L.O.V.E. and BOAST volunteers all agree: Their students benefit greatly from this help, gaining selfconfidence through the interest shown in them by the volunteers. New Program for LOVE at the LibraryLOVE Volunteer Audrey Woodruffe is a pioneer. She has taken on the challenge of starting up a new type of Project L.O.V.E. Mrs Woodruffe helps out at the Lap Sit Program at the Confederation Centre Public Library. Lap Sit is for very young children, ages 6 months to 3 years or so, with their mums, dads or caregivers. They listen to nursery rhymes and poems and do finger-plays in a session led by the Children’s Librarian. Mrs Woodruffe helps by registering the children, handing out materials, and providing cookies and juice to the young participants after the session. Chatting with the parents and holding some of the children is sometimes in her job description as well. “I really love the little ones," Mrs Woodruffe says. “They are just so sweet.” She really notices their progress, even in as short a period as ten weeks, as they advance along from babes-in-arms to crawlers and toddlers. The Library is happy to have the help - there are sometimes as many as twelve parents or caregivers at the program, often with more than one child - so an extra pair of hands and eyes is invaluable. If anyone is interested in helping with younger children, either in a library situation or at a day-care or playschool program, please contact the office (at the above number). We are happy to help find the perfect opportunity for you to help even the very young experience books and literacy! First Workshop Series a Success!Thanks to so many of you for attending our first workshop series on the topic of Helping Students who may have Learning Disabilities, presented by Sandra LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Association of Prince Edward Island. Your evaluations were very positive, and your suggestions for additional topics will be very useful for planning future sessions. If anyone has specific questions or requires copies of handouts, etc. please call the office. |
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