literacy | Harris County Public Library

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! BECOME A LITERACY TUTOR

Submitted by Carolyn Dial on Tue, 02/19/2013 - 4:57pm

You can help another adult learn to read! Register for the Literacy Tutor training sessions to be held at the North Channel Library on Friday, February 22nd from 1-4:30 pm. Literacy Coordinator, Steve Zach, will present unique information to help you become an effective Literacy Tutor. Once you are trained as a Literacy Tutor, you will have the opportunity to meet your new student for one-on-one sessions at the Library. You and the student will decide on the schedule that best meets both of your needs. The North Channel Library has two Study Rooms that you can schedule for sessions with your student. Please be sure to come in or call soon to reserve your place in this interesting class. Ph. 281-457-1631

HCPL and Houston Center for Literacy

Submitted by David Cherry on Wed, 03/14/2012 - 3:09pm

ESL Class at Maud Marks Branch Library How many words have you read today? Just think of them all: the emails, street signs, restaurant menus, websites, product labels, grocery lists, text messages, billboards, fortune cookies, instruction manuals, advertising circulars, and bills, to say nothing of the chapter of the latest Stephen King or the handful of Shakespeare’s sonnets you will read before turning out the light tonight. Chances are, if you thought about it, you would consider each and every one of those words vital to the way you want to live your life. Your ability to read not only allows you to move safely and efficiently through the world, it also enriches your inner life immeasurably.

HATCH early learning

Submitted by Mark H. on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 4:54pm

Visitors to the Aldine Library may have noticed them. Parents may have considered them to be regular desktop computers for children. However, these are no ordinary machines. These two computers in the children's section of the Aldine Library are Hatch learning centers. These desktops offer educational games that touch upon skill areas of pre-literacy, language, math, social studies, and science. The content of these games is tied into national pre-k standards and the findings of the National Early Literacy Panel and the National Research Council Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics.

Have your child pull up a seat at one of our Hatch computers today. Take advantage of an opportunity for your child to learn and have fun!

Literacy Training at Aldine Library

Submitted by Mark H. on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 2:00pm

Help someone gain a skill that they can use in any aspect of life. Aldine Branch Library is seeking volunteer tutors to help adults improve basic reading and writing.

A training session will take place at the library on Saturday, Feb. 5th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Afterwards, tutors will schedule once or twice weekly meetings with an adult student to work on phonics and word patterns using materials provided by the library. Tutors also help students meet daily life needs such as reading for work, reading to children, or reading for pleasure or inspiration.

The training workshop is free and there are no requirements to volunteer, other than an interest in reading and three hours per week to help someone learn to read. To register for this workshop, or if you know of an adult who would like to improve his or her reading, please call the Aldine library for more information at 281-445-5560.

Help someone learn to read

Submitted by Steve Zach on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 10:12am

Here is an excellent volunteer opportunity: get to know someone with a different set of challenges, help this person with a skill he may use anytime, anywhere and even improve his self-image, and in the process gain a sense of satisfaction for yourself. It begins this Thursday, April 8, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Octavia Fields Branch Library, which is hosting a training session for volunteer literacy tutors. It continues with weekly tutoring sessions at any branch library. You can arrange these according to your schedule. Ask at the library (281-446-3377) or contact Steve Zach at 713-749-9035 for more information.

Wordless picture books for class or home

Submitted by Steve Zach on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 11:26am

Picture books without words offer a variety of activities for both ESL students and basic literacy learners who have children. Better yet, most of these books have such engaging stories that they are appropriate for learners with children at any age. Those learners in a class who do not have children would find them interesting as well.

For example, have ESL students look over a few pages in pairs or as a class to identify key characters and events. Review this vocabulary.

Explore Early Science Books in the Children’s Department

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 9:01pm

It’s never too early to talk about science with your youngest children. Early concepts about how and why the world works are featured in many books for toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary school-aged children. Your Tomball Library has pulled many of these books and put them on display in an Early Science Collection in the Children’s Department. Visit the library and our catalog to see some of the great books we provide, or ask for more information at the Children’s Reference Desk. The Library also offers the monthly program What’s the Big Idea? to explore early science and math concepts with parents and their children, ages 2-7. Call 832-559-4235 for more information.