Literacy Council changing teaching method
When adults participate in literacy programs, they not only get personal benefits, they benefit the entire region. Increased literacy skills lead to a more talented and prepared labor market, higher employment rates, greater participation in additional education, increased job prospects.
One Literacy Council of Garland County volunteer tutor, Karen Campbell, has been working with Kevin Cunningham since December 2013. After “expressing disappointment that he’s not progressing as fast as he expects to,” they visited with Laura Lee Williard, executive director. According to the release, she informed them that “their timing could not have been more fortunate,” because they had just purchased the first two levels of the Barton Reading & Spelling System: An Orton-Gillingham Influenced program for literacy learning. The Barton method is a program that addresses dyslexia in both adults and children. Campbell and Cunningham “think the Barton method looks more promising for Kevin’s literacy needs.”
The Literacy Council of Garland County is pursuing the purchase of the site license for all 10 levels of the Barton method, which would streamline the intake process and its training of volunteer tutors and reduce its future expenses for curriculum. The council’s vision is to train a Barton tutor in every neighborhood to remove barriers to literacy tutoring.
Adults who address their low literacy skills are better able to encourage and assist in the education of their children. “The greatest determinant of a child’s educational success is the literacy level of his or her parents,” states the press release.
Higher literacy and education levels also equate to lower health care costs for all Americans. It leads to greater overall community involvement, including voting, volunteerism, community engagement and social cohesion.
The demand and need for adult literacy programs is increasing, while available funding is decreasing. People can make a difference in the community by participating in the upcoming fundraising events, hosting a fundraiser of their own, or by volunteering to be a volunteer coordinator, bookkeeper or office administrator. It takes a village!
There are more than 10,000 adults identified as functionally illiterate in Garland County and there are more who are simply low readers.
For more information on the Literacy Council of Garland County or to make a donation, call Williard at 624-7323.