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Tammy Barry sits in the front of the library, trying to transform a newspaper into a boat. Her audience is young women and their toddler children, and she has just read aloud a book about Curious George—that naughty monkey!—who neglects to deliver newspapers along his paper route and instead folds them into boats and floats them on a pond.
But Barry is not exactly a whiz at shipbuilding. "This is hard for me," she tells the mothers in Spanish. That's when one of the women, who had only paper boats to play with as a child, shows the group—in 30 seconds flat—how to make one. Once the fleet is folded, the group launches their boats in water-filled Tupperware "ponds."
It's moments like these that Barry, 46, most loves about her volunteer job teaching three reading classes a week at Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While the moms study English as a second language, prepare to earn their high school equivalency degrees, and learn life skills essential to success in America (from how to pay bills to how to handle a difficult landlord), their children spend the day in Mercy's preschool programs.The kids arrive for Barry's class fresh from nap time, so they usually need a little wake-up nudge. Turning on a bubble-making machine does the trick. "They snuggle with their moms and watch the bubbles or chase them," says Barry.
Cracking open a new book, Barry demonstrates how to make reading time fun. She stops to name colors ("Here's red; there's blue") or count objects ("How many clouds are in the sky?"). Sometimes she brings a plot to life by whipping out props (Beanie Babies work well) or crafts.
But Barry's not just teaching the mothers how to read to their children—she's teaching them the importance of reading to their children.
By introducing bedtime stories, she tells her moms, they are teaching their kids how to sit quietly, to follow a story, to focus. "The philosophy at Mercy is that if you educate the woman of the house, you're going to educate the whole family."
The women—many of them immigrants, many of them living below the poverty line—love Barry's class. There nobody cares whether every word is pronounced correctly (those Dr. Seuss rhymes are tongue twisters even for lifelong English speakers).
For the kids, the best part is when they each take home a brand-new copy of that week's book. "We give away 40 to 45 books each week," says Barry, who enjoys juggling the logistics of choosing and acquiring titles. "I tell people I have the best job—I get to be Santa Claus all year." She purchases books using grant money from local organizations. Others are donated by individuals or through book drives at local schools. One friend throws an annual holiday tea party. Instead of hostess gifts, guests bring books (Barry registers the titles at a local bookstore). And Barry's kids—she and her husband have two daughters, ages 12 and 14, and a 17-year-old son—often request books in lieu of birthday presents.
Barry can point to success stories, like Isabel Gaspar, 27, who recently passed her GED exam. Her five-year-old son, Jesus, began kindergarten at a magnet school this fall after three years in Barry's program. "In the beginning, Jesus wasn't very interested in books," says Gaspar, "but Miss Tammy showed me how to make reading exciting for him. Now he can practically read his books on his own." Jesus proudly points to his favorite, Curious George Goes to a Movie, which sits on a shelf full of his very own books.
Do More
Donate your time, money, or special skills to the following organizations:
- bookends.org Kids help kids by recycling and distributing books to inner-city schools, homeless shelters, and after-school enrichment centers.
- famlit.org The National Center for Family Literacy provides families with the tools they need to "break the cycle of low literacy."
- firstbook.org Distributes new books to disadvantaged children in preschools to after-school programs.
- reachoutandread.org Pediatricians, nurses, and volunteers in impoverished areas promote literacy during well-child checkups.
Don’t Miss Our First Make It Matter Day!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The theme—chosen by readers—for this national day of volunteering is literacy and education. Our mission? To inspire families to discover the joy of reading. Sign up today to participate in over 150 events across the country, held in conjunction with libraries, schools, YMCAs, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Kids can create a book at e-book stations, listen to authors read books, or go on a storybook scavenger hunt. Commit to making a difference in your community. Enter to win a weekend trip to New York City for you and your family.
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