Last evening (February 16th) the Volunteer Reader Program’s first ever educational and social gathering met with resounding success! A wide range of more than 20 Volunteer Readers representing 13 of our 32 different sites came together over soup and salad to meet each other, share experiences, trade tips, and learn from a panel of librarians and preschool educators. Our five panelists shared wonderful books and materials as well as their insight and knowledge gained from years of experience.
“Am I really making a difference?” Volunteer…
Josh believes in consistency. Accordingly, even as a busy father of two kids under age 10, he has been reading to children at Little Eagles Child Development Center since April 2009.
Josh learned about the Volunteer Reader Program during an informational lunch at his workplace, Expeditors. During college, he read as a volunteer at the YWCA, and wanted to return to volunteering. His love of reading combined with his prior experience lends itself well to his participation in the Volunteer Reader Program. When reading, he…
The illustrations in children’s books are often as engaging and imaginative as the stories. Many people maintain memories of Harold and his purple crayon, or the wild things among the trees. Click below for the New York Times selection for the best illustrated children’s books of 2011.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/the-2011-best-illustrated-books/
Kathy Rossol reads as a way of “investing in our future.” As a child she loved listening to stories read aloud; later she enjoyed reading to her daughter. Now she shares her love of books with the children at Seattle First A.M.E. CWB in Rainier Valley.
A child in this program (who speaks little English) used to cry every time her mother dropped her off. However, when Kathy began reading the book Abiyoyo (by Pete Seeger), the little girl began to hop and sing along…
Occupy Wall Street is shining a useful spotlight on one of America’s central challenges, the inequality that leaves the richest 1 percent of Americans with a greater net worth than the entire bottom 90 percent.
Most of the proposed remedies involve changes in taxes and regulations, and they would help. But the single step that would do the most to reduce inequality has nothing to do with finance at all. It’s an expansion of early childhood education.
Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/opinion/occupy-the-classroom.html?ref=nicholasdkristof
The smallest boy in the Pike Market Child Care & Preschool class grabbed Harry’s hand to head back to school after a field trip to the library, and Harry instantly changed his plan to return to work. Holding the child’s hand, he walked with the class back to preschool. Harry is just that kind of guy.
Harry Bonnette is a Customer Service Specialist at United Way of King County and he has been a Volunteer Reader for four years. He started with a class of…
“What are we reading today?” Bonnie Rosalind asks the small pupils at Grace Children’s Center. Her favorite response is for a child to select a book that Bonnie herself loved to read while growing up; she believes that is “a true testament to the timelessness of books.”
Bonnie signed up for the Volunteer Reader Program on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2009. President Obama had declared that date a National Day of Service, and Bonnie took it as a call to action. Since then,…
The children at Little Eagles Child Development Center are delighted when Miss Kitty, a well-loved puppet cat, comes to visit. Accompanying this now-famous puppet is another popular visitor, Volunteer Reader Joan Davis. Although Miss Kitty occasionally finds the kids’ exuberance a bit trying, Joan’s reason for volunteering is clear: “I am not their regular teacher, I am not their mom or dad or grandma or grandpa- I am a friend whose only mission is to show them great books, to read to…
