Salvation Army Program Offers Free Tutoring for Children
At The Salvation Army’s Westminster Park Community Church in London, Ont., students are developing their reading and math skills through iREAD+, a free after-school literacy and numeracy program for children in Grades 1 through 5.
This initiative began in 2014 after a successful March Break tutoring camp.
“There was so much interest after that, it led to starting a literacy program on a weekly basis,” says Julie Sterne, coordinator of iREAD+.
“There is a need for this in our communities.”
After a hiatus during the pandemic, the initiative relaunched this year.
Since this Salvation Army location is near four elementary schools and a low-income housing complex, Julie’s team recognized that the program would be a great option for families in the area seeking extra academic support for their children.
“Reading is such an important life skill, so this will be transformative for them going forward,” Julie shares. “We also learned that nearly 20 percent of children in the province don’t meet the standard literacy level and about 40 percent for math. So, there is a need for this in our communities.”
Running three cycles per year, iREAD+ has weekly sessions lasting an hour and a half. Participants take part in group activities and receive one-on-one support.
The classes are designed to be interactive and fun.
“Recently, we had them baking. They had to read the recipe and follow the instructions. They also had to do some math at the same time. We want to show them how reading comprehension can impact our lives daily,” Julie adds. “Half the time they don’t even realize how much they’ve been learning, because they’re having fun.”
Despite being relaunched only a few weeks ago, Julie has already received positive feedback from families.
“We have one student right now whose parents say he didn’t like reading at all before, but now he is asking to. They see him smiling and loving every moment of it.”
“We don’t want to have barriers for families that otherwise wouldn’t be able to access this support.”
Julie’s team consists of five volunteers. Two run the math and literacy components, while the others serve as reading buddies for the children.
Looking ahead, The Salvation Army wants to continue growing this initiative. Julie hopes to expand the volunteer base so more participants can join. Financial contributions and donations of school supplies also help keep this program free of charge.
“I’m a parent myself and I know that trying to find affordable tutoring for my child is hard. We want to make sure this is accessible to everyone. We don’t want to have barriers for families that otherwise wouldn’t be able to access this support,” Julie says.
By Juan Romero
