Skip to main content

Delaware County Literacy Program

Delaware County Literacy  (new site for adult literacy)

Monday and Wed 5:15-8:30,  Tuesday and Thursday, 5:15-8:30,

TUTORS MUST GO TWICE A WEEK

.. Tutor training is required which is formal training and certifies you as a literacy tutor. Saturdays, September 13 and 20, 2014 --9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
with a follow-up session Wednesday, October 15, 2014  6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

******9/20 is parents weekend please make appropriate plans, you cannot miss training if you want to tutor.

General Qualifications:

Tutors should be interested in others and able to relate to them by being empathetic and compassionate. We ask that you be respectful of confidentiality. A tutor should be literate (professional training unnecessary), flexible, friendly, patient and optimistic. A sense of humor is helpful, as is the ability to be happy with small successes.

What you do at Delco

There are a few options as to what a volunteer does at DELCO. The first is to have a one-on-one ninety minute language tutoring session based on a learning method called the Language Experience Approach. It involves talking to the student, converting that conversation into a written story, and analyzing it. There are other parts of each lesson which are centered on recognizing words by sight, following lessons in a textbook, having the student do his/her own writing, and other practices which would be practical and useful for the student in his/her daily life. Much of the lesson is centered on things that would personally benefit the student, so it is fairly fluid and allows for a more involved tutor/tutee relationship.

The second option is to help in the GED classes (also ninety minutes), which mostly involves correcting practice tests, tutoring students who are having difficulties comprehending subject matter, and other odds and ends that the GED teacher assigns. The subjects covered in the GED test are Writing, Social Studies, Science, Reading, and Mathematics, and nothing is above a high school level.

What our sophomores have said about working in adult literacy.

 

I have learned a few things about the nature of service, relationships, and community. I have come to see that although there is not always evident, immediate change caused by tutoring, there is a change in the tutee’s attitude. That change was brought about by the relationship that formed between us built on mutual trust and love. Although it may not always be apparent on the surface, I feel that my student and I are sincerely concerned for each other and care for each other’s best. As we’ve worked together toward the same goal, we’ve grown closer and have become a part of each other’s routine. The same can be said of the whole DELCO community; we have become so integrated with each other that it is unusual for someone not to show up for a tutoring session. Despite the personal, one on one nature of the tutoring, there is plenty of respect and community built between all of us: the volunteers, the students, and the DELCO workers. I have also learned about some of the difficulties in tutoring, like how to explain what seems to me like a very basic concept. The great time commitment has also become apparent to me. It has become built into my weekly schedule, but DELCO definitely takes up a lot of time. On the bright side, all the time we put into attending DELCO definitely pays off through the close, comfortable, and beneficial relationships we have formed with the people we meet.  (Timothy Walter ’14)

 Working teaching adults has been a very fulfilling experience for me. I feel like we're giving adults a second chance. We are helping them learn so they can move up in their careers and make better lives for themselves. It is also humbling to work with adults because while we may have more academic knowledge, they have a lot more life experience. They have a lot to say, and we can learn from each other. Working at DCLC is interesting because there are different challenges each time.  Jennifer Engelhart ‘14