esl in-home program of northern nevada · (by the way, laurie has trained 10 new tutors for douglas...
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ESL In-Home Program of Northern Nevada
One-on-one Tutoring in ESL, GED, Computer Literacy, and Ci�zenship Study = AT NO COST
We exist in 5 coun�es of Northern Nevada: Carson, Washoe, Douglas, Lyon and Churchill
Newsletter
Volume 9, Issue 4 July-August 2015
AN AMAZING ESL TUTOR/TRAINER/COORDINATOR
Laurie and Students
Pi Laurie and Jim x
Presen�ng an Award
Laurie Dircksen has been an ESL tutor in Douglas County since October 2013. In September 2014, learning that the Director needed help, she volunteered to be our Douglas County ESL Coordinator. Laurie was born in Oakland, California; received a Nursing degree at Chabot College in Hayward where she met Jim. They moved to a farm in Oregon for 6 years; Laurie studied piano and music composition in Oregon and taught piano at the K-12 school (150 children) while living out in the boonies of Oregon. They moved to England for Jim’s work (Jim is a computer geek), stayed 2 years, returned to Nevada for family , then in 2001 settled in Douglas County. Laurie assists the Director and has taken over the position of ESL Douglas County Coordinator with whatever needs are required to maintain and expand our ser-vices in that county. Currently she has 1 student in Book 1, 3 in Book 2, and holds an English Conversation class with 8 students. Laurie, on her own with help from Jim, has put together CD’s to be used as supplements for the Laubach Book Level 1 students (they are working on CD’s for Laubach Book Level 2). This is what Laurie says about her experience in our program: “The part of the job that gives me so much JOY, is teaching. Jim says that I can go off to class tired and grumpy and I come home smiling, chattering, and full of excitement! Record keeping is not my favorite thing, but as I am getting more organized, it is not that bad. I love my students! I love watching them learn the little bits in the beginning and then get really excited when I see them putting all the little bits together, at the appropriate time!!! It's so cool!! The students are wonderful - warm and engaging- and very happy to find people who want to help them learn. Their backgrounds, edu-cations, and situations are all different - yet all are looking for a better life for them-selves and their families. Being able to speak English is an extremely helpful tool for achieving that goal. The students in my Conversation Class have become very close. They are great! They gently laugh and tease each other. But, they also strongly sup-port each other, in and out of classroom. It has been interesting to watch the shy stu-dents speak up and take the risk of making a mistake. As we teachers know, English is difficult! As for the tutors, what can I say? They are kind and caring. They come from all different areas of this country and from all different backgrounds. But, what they all have in common, is the understanding of the importance of English to their students and the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping not only their student, but that student's family, and our community. Few things are more important than friendship: acceptance and understanding, and a helping hand, when needed.” (By the way, Laurie has trained 10 new tutors for Douglas County., matching them with 26 students. She’s a keeper!) Laurie is not bilingual but gets by somehow. Also, our former coordinator, Carol Lark, helps her with bilingual calls and notes. Laurie says they are a team. So we also applaud our wonderful Carol Lark, although not currently tutoring, always helping.
With her Student Leonel Pacheco
The Team: Laurie & Carol Lark
WHY WE TEACH ADULTS
The only way to create a truly literate world is to include goals associated with underserved adult students and the literacy
programs that serve them. Literacy programs help adult students to
• Take and pass their high school equivalency test
• Obtain and advance in jobs through learning new skills
• Become U.S. Ci4zens
• Help their children with homework
The ESL In-Home Program of Northern Nevada was created in 2004 with one tutor and six students. Currently, it has 171 tu-
tors teaching English Language Skills to 482 immigrant adults living in 5 coun4es of northern Nevada: Carson, Douglas, Lyon,
Churchill and Washoe County – at no cost.
Adult illiteracy cannot be seen as a singular social problem in isola4on from children’s literacy. Most “emergent literacy” em-
phasizes the familial dimensions of early literacy and underscores the connec4ons between child and adult literacy, regarding
learning, skill levels, and prac4ces. Educa4on data indicates the following:
B Children whose parents reported literacy difficul4es had a 72% chance of being in the lowest reading level in school
tests (compared to 25% of children in the lowest reading level overall).
B Low-skilled parents tend to have lower expecta4ons and aspira4ons regarding educa4on for themselves and their
children.
B Low-skilled parents cannot read to their children, nor encourage a love of learning. When low-skilled adults improve
their literacy skills, this impacts the literacy of their children. With these new skills they can help a child with homework, read
notes sent home from school, understand the school system their children engage in, and guide and encourage them.
B Children of parents who are not involved in their educa4on are more likely to display behavioral problems, get poor
grades, have a high-absentee rate, repeat school years, or drop out of school.
B Children of parents who had not completed high school scored lower in vocabulary assessments than children of
parents with a high school degree or equivalent.
B Parents with a high school diploma or high school equivalency cer4ficate engage more in early childhood educa4on
ac4vi4es with their children.
B Parents with a high school diploma or a high school equivalency cer4ficate are 11% more likely to assist their chil-
dren with homework than those who did not complete high school.
B Both literate and non-literate parents believe strongly in educa4on for their children, although literate parents are
more likely to support their children in prac4cal ways, such as mee4ng teachers and discussing progress with children.
(Source: “Connec�ons between Child and Adult Literacy, Regarding Learning, Skill Levels and Prac�ces,” Mas�n Prinsloo)
In general, research finds that parents ac4vely work to support their children’s literacy even when their own years of
school educa4on are limited. Home literacy prac4ces blended with literacy prac4ces in schools create collabora4ve literacy
prac4ces rooted in a culture or neighborhood. Literacy courses introduce parents to ways of helping children in school and the
school curriculum, resul4ng in greater social benefits.
The ESL In-Home Program has proven success with adult immigrants being tutored in its classes of ESL, Workplace
Communica4on, GED Prepara4on, Financial Literacy, U.S. Ci4zenship Study – all at no cost.
To all our Tutors: To the world you are a teacher,
but to your students you are a HERO!
Thank you!
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Why Literacy Ma4ers
One in every five Nevadan adults reads at or below the 5th grade level. For them, simple everyday task s present real problems. Reading product labels, foll owing street signs or filling out job applications can be difficult and frustrating.
Families suffer, too. Parents with low literacy ski lls have trouble reading to their children and many don’t even try. Sadly, the literacy levels of children ar e strongly linked to the educational levels of thei r par-ents.
In the 11 years of our program’s existence, we had over 4,000 adult students attend at least one of ou r classes or spend time with one of our volunteer tut ors.
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Reno Tutor Loretta Dubois reports on her student, Ullim K. who came to the U.S. 12 years ago not spea king Eng.
“Ullim started our ESL class on 5/30/13. Her goal was to make friends . Two years later we can carry on a conversa!on.
She has made friends with her neighbors. She even convinced her
husband to let me teach him English!
Husband of Ullim: Kitae K. started ESL program
8/14/14. I teach Ullim for an hour and then teach Kitae
for an hour. Their goal is to become ci!zens of USA.
Now they both love to go shopping in any store in Reno!
Even though they have a car they both now have bus
passes and enjoy riding the bus. “
Hello, Florence. Here are some photos from the Belmont Head Start Center,
operated by the Episcopal Children's Services. They surprised me in class with
the announcement that I was chosen as Volunteer of the Year. I think a more
formal dinner or something is coming up. The student to the leL of me, Car-
line Pierre, finished Book 1 this year and scored 100% on the mock ci4zenship
test that I gave her. Her test is next month. When I first met her I asked her
"Tell me----------", I don't remember what, and she replied "What tell?" Jenni,
who wrote the memo, told me that they are going to write Carline's story in
the next newslePer and present her story to their Board of Directors and
Trustees.
Green Cove Springs Head Start awarded Sinclair Hugh a gift certificate to show their appreciation.
5/2015- Loretta Dubois’s photo of her Korean student she is tutoring by Skype: Her student, Kiyoungs, is in South Korea teaching Art. Loretta says: “We worked together here in Reno for a year then another year from South Korea. “
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Former ESL In-Home Tutor, SINCLAIR HUGH started tutoring in Reno in September 2011 teaching Ci�zenship study to 5 stu-
dents. Unfortunately for us, he relocated to Florida BUT started our Laubach program there. Below are some of his recent re-
ports and photos of his students in Florida. Our Director has always said that our program should be in all cities. There-
fore, she is proud of this former ESL tutor s�ll tutoring…….
:Sinclair Hugh was recently awarded the title “Volunt eer of the Year” for all of his self-less service.
Head Start Highlighter—May 2015 Sinclair Hugh was awarded the title “Volunteer of the Year” for all of his self-less service. Green Cove Springs Head Start awarded him a gift certifi-cate to show their appreciation.
One of our tutors in Reno gave us this tip which she uses for her English Con-
versation class:
"I wrote questions on pieces of paper, folded them up, and placed them on
the table. As the Students came into class, they pick one up, sit down and
ponder, and answer. It was all questions about themselves."
(I can see loads of questions to ask—it sounds like a positive way
to get the shy students to start speaking. (FP)
Www.kitzkikz.com/flashcards — Easily create printable flash cards by typing in or cutting/pasting words. www.nwlincs.org/nwlincsweb/Lessons.htm - Sample lesson plans for ABE, ESOL, Citizenship Studies, and more. www.wiseoldsayings.com – Includes word games for learning English www.professionalstudiesae.org – Online professional development site by ProLiteracy and World Education. Provides excellen t training for teaching adults. www.puzzlemaker.com – Create your own word games and crossword puz-zles. www.typingweb.com – Online typing tutor which can help student’s pro gress.
To support us we always need more tutors and funds. Please go to:
hPp://www.gofundme.com/ukxka2t
Every dollar helps
TUTOR TIPS Page 4 `
/
From the Executive Director
A beau4ful day begins
with a beau4ful
mindset. When you
wake up, take a second
to think about
what a privilege it is
to simply be alive and healthy.
Our Mailing Address:
1894 E. William St. #4-125
Carson City, NV 89701
775-888-2021
Email: [email protected]
Website: eslinhome.org
Mission Statement: ESL In-Home Program of
Northern Nevada provides instruc4on at no cost
to adult individuals who wish to learn or improve
their English language skills, GED prepara4on,
Computer Literacy and Ci4zenship study regard-
less of sex, age, race, religion or na4onal or eth-
nic origin, or physical disabili4es. ESL In-Home
Program empowers people, especially those of
low to moderate income, to become more pro-
duc4ve members of their local communi4es by
providing them with the language and cultural
skills necessary for life in America.
ESL In-Home Program of Northern Nevada
If you would like to be taken off our
mailing list please email us at:
Page 5
We’re on the web!
www.eslinhome.org
Florence G. Phillips
One-on-one tutoring in English as
a Second Language (ESL), GED
Prepara4on, Computer and
Financial Literacy, and
Ci4zenship Study……..
AT NO COST!!!!
Invite your friends to become an ESL volunteer tutor! Tell
them why you enjoy the experience. Invite them to learn
more about our program at our website:
www.eslinhome.org. It is not necessary for tutors to know a
foreign language or have prior teaching experience. We
train at no cost. We can provide an ESL teaching cer!ficate.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:
Send comments and/or feedback to: [email protected]