Last Tuesday morning, Shirley Scofield sat on a soft couch next to a sunny window with a child under each arm listening intently to her read “The Paper Bag Princess” by Robert Munsch.
The children were not Scofield’s grandchildren but the experience, she said, is very similar.
Scofield is one of 12 volunteers who come in to F.H. Huffman School once a week to read stories to the Junior Kindergarten students.
The program is called “Folklore,” which stands for “Folks for the Love of Reading Everywhere,” and it brings in volunteer readers to spend 30-40 minutes a week with one or two children.
“It gives that opportunity for lap reading,” explained Jan Perrott, special education resource teacher and Grade 1 teacher at Huffman.
“We try to read three to four stories to the children every day, but reading to the group isn’t the same as reading with mom or grandma,” she noted.
It’s that personal element that makes the program so special, she added. The staff makes an effort to pair up the readers with the same children every week so they can develop a bond.
“I love it,” Scofield said of her experiences reading to Sara Jackson and Kenton Bowles. “It’s like having grandchildren. They always cuddle you and climb on your lap.”
Yesterday was only the third session in the new program, but already the children recognize their readers when they arrive.
“It’s really exciting. They’re already bonding,” said Huffman principal Dianne Thompson. “The kids are really enjoying it.”
The volunteers are mostly retired persons. Some of them have experience reading with children, like Ruth Caldwell, the former children’s librarian at the Fort Frances Public Library, and others don’t.
“These guys are wonderful,” Perrott said of the volunteers, adding they are expressive readers with good pacing.
And those are some of the principles the Folklore program is based on. The teaching staff is focusing on reading tips from Mem Fox, an Australian children’s author and educator who emphasizes the importance of reading out loud to children.
Fox says children need to hear at least 1,000 stories before they are ready to read. She encourages readers to read with flair, using different voices and replacing characters’ names with your child’s name.
She notes stories with repetitive parts encourage children to join in, and that adults should reread a child’s favourite story as many times as he or she wants to hear it.
“We’re trying to develop that love of reading, and those positive feelings you get if that’s been part of your experience,” Perrott said. “We want it to be fun and motivating.”
“It’s also a way of connecting the community with the school,” Thompson added.
The school has received a $1,500 grant from the Rainy River District School Board’s Innovative Projects program to fund “Folklore.”
“The program brings the strength of the community into the school and gives students the ability to achieve strong literacy skills,” the board said in a recent report about the new program.
“It fosters a co-operative, inclusive, and welcoming environment.”
The pilot program currently is being offered only to JK students, but the school hopes to expand it to other grades in the fall.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
