Articles in the Volunteer Reader Category
It was the Doodle Bug and Noodle Bug Celebration at Renton Head Start and ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program) on Thursday, March 07, 2013! Students, parents and staff gathered in the gym to celebrate their accomplishment of reading a total of 24,000 minutes! Literacy is very important at Renton Head Start and ECEAP and to promote reading the children and parents have been keeping track of their minutes reading together at home. Their goal was to make Doodle Bug’s tail grow — and…
Literacy was the theme at the Olympic Hills Head Start parent meeting on February 11th. Parents were first trained by Karen from Page Ahead on the importance of reading to your children at home. She talked about asking open ended questions and engaging the children in dialogue. The training is similar to what our Volunteer Readers receive.
After the training Early Learning Volunteer Coordinator Danielle Holing and Volunteer Reader Holly Weese informed parents about the Volunteer Reader Program, shared stories and distributed books. Parents were…
Thank you Amazom.com for donating $5000 to the Volunteer Reader Program (VRP) to help us connect with parents and engage them in reading and telling stories with their young children! The donation is being used to purchase books for a few of our VRP sites: Sherwood Forest Head Start in Federal Way, Olympic Hills Head Start in North Seattle, and Renton Head Start. Books are going home with families as gifts to build home libraries and encourage more reading at…
More than half of all kindergartners in our state are entering school without the social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills they need to be successful. Research shows that those children who start behind often stay behind. We’re looking for friendly, dependable people to read with young children one-on-one (not group reading) at select preschools throughout King County.
To learn more about this opportunity, please visit our webpage. If you are able to commit to this opportunity reading one hour a week for…
To ensure that children with developmental delays/disabilities reach their highest potential, United Way of King County supports programs throughout the county that address their needs. We know that a critical piece of success for these children is direct support and engagement from their parents and families. When parents learn their child has delays, they may feel scared, helpless and powerless. But when they are connected to services and information that support and nurture their child’s development, parents feel empowered and supported as a result.
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AmeriCorps Member Ariana Meyrich-Blomquist brought to her year of service a background rich in writing skills and tutoring. She felt that she wanted to learn the management side of volunteering, and decided to dedicate a year to United Way’s Volunteer Reader Program as our Program Associate. She was surprised at how much it takes behind the scenes to run a program.
She set out to recruit community members at events and volunteer fairs. She made many connections and got the word out about our program.…
Volunteer Reader Barb Warden doubted that the children at Kent Family Center would like Wombat Walkabout; after all, the story includes things never seen in the Pacific Northwest like wattle trees, kookaburra birds and billabongs, not to mention wombats and walkabouts! Despite Barb’s doubts about the children’s response to the book, this Australian tale proved to be a favorite this past year.
The children constantly surprise Barb. One day as she was reading, Barb heard the voice of a little girl who leaned over and…
Hey diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle…
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…
This is the house that Jack built…
At Harmony Early Childhood Education Center, Volunteer Reader Bonnie Pomeroy shares classic nursery rhymes. With their strong rhythm, nonsensical subject matter and brevity, they always have and will continue to engage small children.
A retired kindergarten teacher, Bonnie is experienced at reading aloud. She exposes children to the “feel” and “tone” of language and helps them make connections…
“Who does not like 5-year-old people?” asks Volunteer Reader Ken Peterson. Ken most certainly does; since January 2011, he has been spending one hour each week at Harmony Early Childhood Education Center in Renton.
As a father, grandfather and experienced Boy Scout master, Ken knows children. A semi-retired pharmacist, he found the Volunteer Reader Program when he was “looking for opportunities to be helpful.” Each week he brings books from his home to share with Harmony’s 4- and 5-year-olds, adding variety to the center’s collection of…
Last evening, we held the last “Building Blocks of Literacy” Volunteer Reader Program training until the fall. The evening was very fun, and full of interesting information about early literacy and children’s books.
We heard stories from our sites: one volunteer explained trifocals after a child asked, “What is that stripe on your glasses?” Another volunteer arrived to read one day wearing high heels and was asked “why are you so big?”
In the middle of the training, we all had the opportunity…
