“It’s not just about adding years to your life; it’s about adding life to your years. And you’re never too young to make a difference.”
Many of us in our 2nd fifty are looking for purpose, meaningful relationships, and the desire for good. Tutoring/mentoring a child meets not only the needs of the child being served, but the desires of we who serve them. Year after year tutors share how much meaning tutoring has added to their lives.
In one hour a week you can teach a kindergartner to read with Making Sense of Language Arts. You will be trained in our techniques, paired with a child (with the receptive ability to succeed but who is currently performing below his or her age level). Then weekly, at a local school, you’ll be given a lesson plan, materials and the supervision to empower this child to learn to read and write. Making the difference at such a young age, changes the trajectory of his or her whole life forever! In the last 20 years, 80 to 100% of the children we have worked with have left kindergarten reading and with language arts skills at or above grade level. You can make a difference!
But volunteering doesn’t only make a difference for those we serve:
A look at the association between volunteering and mortality, was published in the journal Psychology and Aging. It included 14 studies that followed thousands of participants aged 55 and older. It found volunteering by older adults reduced their risk of mortality by 47 percent. When the researchers controlled for other variables like socioeconomic status, marital status and health, the adults who volunteered still had a 25 percent reduced risk of mortality.
Students from the University of Cincinnati, St. Ursula Academy, St. Xavier High School, Miami University, and Ohio State and even other elementary students have shown you’re never too young to make a difference!
While tutoring they learn vital skills in language development and learn to provide equity, raise expectations, teach children affected by trauma to become victors, not victims, improve listening skills, grow in understanding the value of companionship and more!
