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The Language Enrichment Program has been used
successfully in volunteer literacy tutoring programs held in local churches,
community centers, public libraries, even coffee houses. Church and community
after school, latch-key, Saturday and summer programs can help improve the
quality of life for neighborhood students and adults.
During the developer’s first summer vacation as a new
teacher, a local pastor (the president of the school Parent Teacher Association)
requested the developer to conduct a reading program at his church for children
and young people in the local community. This rewarding experience provided
young people measurable reading gains during this church basement volunteer
summer session.
Not long after, the Green Tree Coffee House used The
Language Enrichment Program in a Saturday morning program in inner city
Detroit. This was the Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield, Michigan,
college and career class outreach project inspired by discussions with Bill
Pannell after the 1967 riots in Detroit. A handicapped student from the Detroit
Bible College (now Tyndale College) satisfied her community service ministry
requirement by typing mimeograph stencils from my original handwritten version
to make copies of the reading program to use for the coffee house ministry.
Middle to late elementary students worked the program each Saturday. Their
mothers told me they subsequently did far better in school. Several of these
students went on to successful college careers at the University of Michigan
where they played on the football team.
Since The Language Enrichment Program is
self-instructional, students can learn from the program with little or no need
for assistance from a teacher, tutor, or parent. All the students need to do is
work the exercises in order, placing their answers on their own paper, and the
reading improvement is automatic.
Students who use The Language Enrichment Program
dramatically improve reading comprehension, become motivated learners, and
experience greater success in school. Yet, since the content of The Language
Enrichment Program does not duplicate what students are learning in school,
the program holds their interest.
In current news reports, in 40 percent of New York City
high schools more seniors failed than graduated. Detroit Public Schools
currently report a 58 percent dropout rate. Significantly more male than female
students give up on school.
The developer knows by direct experience and observation of
students in his classroom, that The Language Enrichment Program
significantly cuts the dropout rate of students regarded as at extreme risk for
dropping out, some years to below one percent while the school dropout rate was
seventy percent. Because students experience success as they use The Language
Enrichment Program, their academic motivation is greatly strengthened, they
do better in all of their classes, reading is no longer a frustrating experience
but a rewarding activity, and they are equipped to comprehend today’s more
complexly written textbooks and other curriculum materials.
The problem is severe, but the solution is simple: use
The Language Enrichment Program to bring success to the students in your
church and community. |
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