Door 18 has been opened this morning to reveal:
The Centre for Family Literacy Charity http://www.famlit.ca/
The Centre for Family Literacy is one of the charities being featured that is an unsung hero in Edmonton.
The Centre aims to increase family literacy and strengthen families through reading. The goals may seem lofty, but I've had the privilege to see the Centre for Family Literacy in action. It's the sort of thing you witness that brings tears to your eyes; it's work that stays embedded in your memory forever.
Partnering with organizations like ParentLink and Edmonton Public Library, and a number of community leagues, the Centre offers early childhood programs like Books for Babies, Rhymes that Bind, and the C.O.W. bus (Classroom On Wheels) to connect young children and their parents with the joy of reading.
The Centre offers tutoring sessions to adults who have a grade nine level of English understanding and speaking but need some support in literacy at that level and beyond. For many adults, this can be a transformative experience; they may have been "passing" as literate but understanding only parts of written and financial information they have encountered. The confidence gained with increased comprehension is immeasurable; the eagerness for people to read with their children when their own skills have increased is well-documented. Adult tutoring ends up benefitting the whole family (thought it should be noted that tutoring is not restricted to adults with children.) Adults who develop their literacy also tend to become more engaged citizens, more active in their communities, because of increased confidence but also because of their increased reading abilities.
Quoted on the Centre's website and representative of why the Centre for Family Literacy is so important, why its work is so necessary, are the words of Kofi Anan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations:
The Centre offers tutoring sessions to adults who have a grade nine level of English understanding and speaking but need some support in literacy at that level and beyond. For many adults, this can be a transformative experience; they may have been "passing" as literate but understanding only parts of written and financial information they have encountered. The confidence gained with increased comprehension is immeasurable; the eagerness for people to read with their children when their own skills have increased is well-documented. Adult tutoring ends up benefitting the whole family (thought it should be noted that tutoring is not restricted to adults with children.) Adults who develop their literacy also tend to become more engaged citizens, more active in their communities, because of increased confidence but also because of their increased reading abilities.
Quoted on the Centre's website and representative of why the Centre for Family Literacy is so important, why its work is so necessary, are the words of Kofi Anan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations:
LITERACY is the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.
Please donate to the Centre at: http://www.famlit.ca/support/index.shtml or with volunteer time.
Please donate to the Centre at: http://www.famlit.ca/support/index.shtml or with volunteer time.
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