The L.O.V.E. Letter ~ No. 18

The Newsletter of Project L.O.V.E. ~ Spring 2005 ~ PO Box 2000 Charlottetown PE C1A 7N8
Telephone 368-4695 Fax 368-3269. Toll Free 1-866-741-5683 Email: peivol@isn.net Home Page: www.nald.ca/peivol

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 250 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.

Literacy - Our Most Important Goal

A year-end editorial in the Globe and Mail called for Canada to become the world’s most literate nation.

It’s simple, the editor said. Children raised in homes with books - many books - got the highest literacy scores in a recent study of 15-year-olds and their literacy levels by the OECD, (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Even the most wealthy children - who attend the most expensive schools - were no more literate than poorer children who came from homes with over 250 books. Regular use of libraries is also a major factor in students scoring high.

How does this affect the work of you, our LOVE volunteers?

Well, you reading with students will help increase their literacy scores, and this will make them better able to cope with the future that they are facing: a future filled with CHANGE.

These future adults will not be able to get a single job for life, as jobs and work will be constantly changing. Good literacy skills will make them able to cope with constant change and the need to learn new things.

The editorial compared reading to hockey, and suggested that if Canadian children spent as much time reading as they do playing hockey (and if it were equally “cool” to be a reader as a hockey player) Canada would lead the world and become a reading power.

Your assignment: keep on reading with your students. Make reading fun for them. Talk about how enjoyable it is for you to get books from the library.

Relate how books have helped you learn new skills, experience new places and encounter new friends. Help them to become good readers - it’s the best gift they will ever get!