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Wednesday, March 14, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B1 ftcALOHA SPRING S A LESTA R TSTO D A Y It's starting to look a lot like springtime! Wte have all ttie brightest colours and hippest styles you will need to look hot ttiis season. Through the end of the month. Save 15% off any one item and give your wardrobe the jump start it needs this spring. B y C o n s ig n m e n t... Upscale Resale Ladies Wear 115 Tra fa lgar Rd. (just n . of Lakeshore) 338-3474 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK O penSqmi D ays. OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR OF THE OAKVILLE WATERFRONT FESTIVAL Focus : Oaks/CLLes F&*ttvoU/ W ctferfro rvt Oakville Beaver Focus Editor: WILMA BLOKHUIS 845-3824 Ext: 250 Photo by Riziero Vertolli Cozy Reading volunteer Peggy Williams (centre) shares a storybook with Kindergarten students Lillian Timmins and Chris McKenzie at Oakwood Public School. Volunteers help Kindergarten tots cozy up to reading By Shelly Sanders G reer SP E C IA L TO T H E BEAVER hen Pat Dickinson became a grandmother, she saw how much her granddaughter enjoyed reading. "I wanted all children to have this joy," said Dickinson, currently the course director for York University's Faculty of Education Primary-Junior pre-service training program at Sheridan College in Oakville. "Research shows that a child who does n't have a natural affinity to books and is not read to, is at a disadvantage." Working with longtime friend and colleague, Teresa Simons, a retired Kindergarten teacher, the two created a literacy program geared specifically for kindergarten children. Called Cozy Reading, the program's two main goals are to promote a posi tive emotional response to reading, and to read interactively so that children naturally develop concepts of print. W It began three years ago with eight volunteers in eight schools in Halton, and has grown to 125 volunteers in 22 schools and two childcare centres. "It's called Cozy Reading because we believe that the benefit of reading to babies and young children is bond ing, and they develop an emotionally positive feeling towards books," explains Dickinson. Working with groups of just two children at a time, volunteer readers set up in a quiet spot of the classroom with a small rug and a basket of 10 carefully chosen books. Unlike a classroom set ting where there are at least 25 kids try ing to listen to a story, the small group creates a more personal environment with more discussion about the story. In an article written by the founders o f Cozy Reading, Dickinson and Simons, along with Darlene Edmonds, they state that some children with speech and language delays may have trouble learning to read because they cannot make sense of oral language as easily as other children. These same children could be helped to enjoy books if read to in small groups, with books designed to hook reluctant readers into print. These are the kinds of books cho sen for Cozy Reading, books with flaps, objects to touch, captivating illus trations, simple but intriguing language and funny stories. "These books are geared to hands-on experience-- they couldn't be left out in a classroom because the flaps would get damaged," says Darlene Edmonds, Celebrating Literacy Co-ordinator, Halton Social Planning Council and Volunteer Centre. "The children cozy up and are able to participate. You're stimulating conversation, book han dling skills, author and letter recogni tion-- you're building all the skills they need." Right now, kindergarten children are not taught formally to read, in large part because many are not ready, says Dickinson, who believes the informal Cozy Reading program can at least connect kids and books. "We didn't want this program to be so formal that kids who are not ready to read feel left out. Confidence and the sense that `I can do this' are critical. To undermine this could be very harmful. The Cozy reading program is very nat ural and encouraging rather than expecting." The volunteer spends and hour in the classroom, reading to four groups of two children for 15 minute time peri ods.. Both children in a group get a chance to choose a book and the reader chooses the third book to be read. "It's a win-win situation," says Edmonds. `The volunteer is contribut ing an hour and making a difference. By the end of the year, the volunteers are asking for harder books which means the kids are ready for the next year of literacy. One volunteer told me a child picked up a book and said, `I'll read it to you.' He did with all the right words! The volunteers know they're making a valuable contribution and the kids benefit from increased literacy." Running this program takes money for books, and volunteers to read them to the children. It runs from October to May and volunteers are always needed, says Edmonds, because once a school starts the program, they want to keep it. This means more baskets, books and people. The money comes primarily from the annual For the Love of Literacy Conference, which this year will be held on March 31 at Iroquois Ridge High School. Indigo Books has also provided money for books. As the person in charge of recruiting volunteer readers, Edmonds would like to remind people that this year is the International Year of the Volunteer. Make it a resolution to volunteer with Cozy Reading. The program runs from October to May, and volunteers can choose to read just one or two times a week. 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