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Programmes
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Children
- GROW
- Story L.A.B.
- ENCORE
- Camp GROW
GROW (Gain Reading Oral and Writing skills) is a weekly structured skills-based programme to help struggling readers aged between 5-7 years old acquire reading skills.
- Tiered small group instruction
- Explicit phonics instruction
- Word recognition training
- Guided reading for reading fluency
- Two 15-lesson modules per year
- 75-minute lessons
If you are a parent who is interested to register your child for GROW, please email Eunice at eunicetan@calvary.org.sg to find out more. We will arrange a screening test to assess your child’s suitability for the programme.
We also partner with pre-schools and SSAs to run our GROW programme for students. Do contact us at 6281 1866 or email care@calvary.org.sg with the header Partnership Inquiries: GROW to explore this option with us.
Children respond differently to the standard lessons taught in a class of 20-25 children. Some do not receive adequate home support, especially non-English speaking home environments, while some learn at a slower pace and require more individual attention.
Without a good grasp of English literacy, the child will have difficulty coping with the academic demands of school.
The students who will benefit from GROW are preschool children who lack grade-appropriate reading proficiency to cope with the academic demands as they start primary school as well as children who have started primary school but are still struggling to read.
- Systematic screening,
- Tiered intervention and
- Progress monitoring
GROW students show significant progress in their phonics skills, word recognition ability as well as in their reading fluency. They benefit greatly from the close attention they receive in the small group instruction as well as the systematic and differentiated lessons that cater to their learning needs
Testimonies
At the start of P1, Shi Ying could read fewer than 50 words. Her mother is Vietnamese and does not speak English while her father is deaf. Thankfully, Shi Ying is a very keen and diligent learner and with the help of the GROW reading support programme, she was able to make tremendous progress in her reading proficiency.
Click here to watch her story!
I wish to express my deep felt thanks to you for teaching my son, Ryan Lim, through the GROW literacy programme.I’ve noticed marked improvement in Ryan’s reading ability. At the beginning of this year he was quite poor in sight words and phonics. Now he reads fluently and takes interest in storybooks and even science magazines and books. He enjoys reading about animals and longer stories with little help. He reads readily and quite independently. Quite amazing!
Appreciate your patience and great care in teaching Ryan. Thank You!
Story L.A.B. (Literacy Awareness Builders) aims to bring the experience of “bedtime stories” (shared book reading) into the community.
Through Story L.A.B., we hope that children, especially those from non-English speaking homes, can enjoy the experience and its benefits. Children aged 3-9 are welcome to join us in our weekly sessions.
- Active and meaningful engagement with stories
- Attention to text
- Weekly 45-minute sessions
- Small group reading
Pre-registration is not required. You can bring your child to join us at at Story L.A.B., every Monday, from 7.30pm to 8.15pm, at the Potong Pasir Community Club!
We also partner with community organizations and SSAs to run our Story L.A.B. programme for their beneficiaries. Do contact us at 6281 1866 or email care@calvary.org.sg with the header Partnership Inquiries: Story L.A.B. to explore this option with us.
Studies have shown that reading aloud to children is the single most important activity for reading success in children.
Children with poor literacy foundation struggle to develop reading proficiency and become reluctant readers. This in turn affects their school progress. We aim to eliminate the guarantee of academic failure caused by poor literacy skills.
ALL children will benefit from the experience of being read aloud to. However, this experience is especially beneficial and critical to children from non-English speaking homes.
Being read to reaps a lot of benefits for the children! This includes:
- Increasing vocabulary
- Developing oral skills
- Sharpening of observation skills
- Enhancing listening skills
- Providing opportunities for positive social interaction
- Laying the foundation for reading comprehension
- Building reading readiness
More importantly, reading aloud to children can promote a love for reading in the children.
Testimonies
Every 4th Monday of the month, we replace the small-group reading session with a large group story reading followed by a simple craft for the children to do.
This particular week, one of our regular Story L.A.B. attendees, L (P1), came with his own book and kept asking us to read that book to him. When we told him that we were unable to do so because we had other plans for that session, he took his book and started reading to his friends who enjoyed it a lot as well!
It was very encouraging to see the children taking the initiative to read and be so excited about it – that is what Story L.A.B. aims to do!
As Story L.A.B is specially designed to nurture every child to become self-motivated and joyful readers, I hope to be part of this process in igniting the imagination of our young readers through the power of storytelling.
Although there are hard moments, but the joy from the enjoyable moments often transcend the ‘down’ times.
The volunteering journey has been an extremely enjoyable one and it has also allowed me to grow with the children. I believe in the importance of education and the greatness of a village to raise a child.
-Li Ying, Volunteer
ENCORE (ENgagement & COmprehension in REading) is a weekly structured programme that is aimed at strengthening reading comprehension abilities in lower Primary students.
- Develop vocabulary, reading fluency and text engagement
- Small group instruction
- 90-minute sessions
Unfortunately, we currently do not run our ENCORE programme for individuals.
We partner with Primary Schools and Student Care Centres to run our ENCORE programme for their students. Do contact us at 6281 1866 or email care@calvary.org.sg with the header Partnership Inquiries: ENCORE to explore this option with us.
Students need to be able to understand and comprehend what they are reading in order to learn. Even though some students may be able to read, they may lack comprehension skills due to a poor vocabulary and text engagement.
Camp GROW is our annual end-of-year story day-camp for K1 and K2 children to engage them in stories and story-related activities such as crafts, games and song to spark an interest in reading.
Do keep a look out for more details regarding Camp GROW 2020!