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<DIV>Hi Greg,</DIV>
<DIV>I like the idea of helping children and youth. Because I’ve been to
college, I have more in depth knowledge of the subjects the kids/teens are
studying.</DIV>
<DIV>Like you, in college I volunteered with an after school program run by a
nonprofit.</DIV>
<DIV>I was sometimes a help; other times not. I tried the technique you
used; I sat with the kids and asked them to explain what they were doing or what
they were writing down.</DIV>
<DIV>I asked them to read their homework assignment, usually a worksheet, to
me. Other times I listened to kids read and if they had trouble, I helped
them with the words; it was hard because I didn’t have a braille copy; so I
asked them to spell the word and we could then sound it out. </DIV>
<DIV>Sometimes, though, I knew they were reading the wrong words or
mispronouncing them, but I couldn’t correct them or figure out the words; I wish
I had a braille copy and then I would have been more help to them.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I might do better tutoring kids with a more structured curriculum such as a
reading program they are following.</DIV>
<DIV>There are many summer school programs around coming up and several programs
for low income children to improve literacy skills and have fun. So I
might try it again.</DIV>
<DIV>If I assist with reading and writing though, I’d like to have more braille
matterials; perhaps I can get some ahead of time and scan them so I can read it
on my braille display or hard copy braille.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ashley</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=gpaikens@gmail.com
href="mailto:gpaikens@gmail.com">Greg Aikens</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 28, 2011 12:36 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=community-service@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:community-service@nfbnet.org">Community Service Discussion List</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Community-service] volunteering with kids or
youth</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">Hi
Ashley,
<DIV>Working with kids and youth is a great way to do community service.
In college, I volunteered at a few after school programs for elementary
schoolers. I would usually sit with kids and help them with their
homework. Even if kids don't know how to do the problems, they can often
enough read their homework assignment to you, or you can get one of their
classmates to help you both understand the assignment. Depending on the
kid, just providing one on one attention can be extremely benefitial, even if
you don't help with their homework. I also helped plan an event for the
big brothers/big sisters groups in our area. That was a lot of fun and
involved more group planning and running activities than one on one kid
time. So, there are all kinds of possibilities to volunteer with kids in
your area I'm sure. The Boys and Girls clubs are always looking for people
to help after school, and sometimes they pay a little bit too. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I know you are looking for volunteer experiences to build your resume, but
short term pay positions would also help. If you are wanting to work with
kids you could try getting jobs at one of the numerous summer camps and summer
programs for blind kids that happen all over the country. That would give
you a lot of experience, and maybe a little cash, and still build your
resume. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just some thoughts. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best of luck.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Greg<BR>
<DIV>
<DIV>On Feb 27, 2011, at 10:58 PM, <<A
href="mailto:bookwormahb@earthlink.net">bookwormahb@earthlink.net</A>> <<A
href="mailto:bookwormahb@earthlink.net">bookwormahb@earthlink.net</A>>
wrote:</DIV><BR class=Apple-interchange-newline>
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<DIV>Hi all,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This list is real quiet.</DIV>
<DIV>I’d like to hear about your experiences because I am planning to
volunteer this summer.</DIV>
<DIV>I have a degree from Marymount university; it’s a BA in
psychology/communications. But I need more experience before getting a job and
I am aware that often volunteer experiences lead to employment
opportunities.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>My interests include helping kids/youth in academics or anything I can
help them in, outreach, event planning and anything communications driven such
as writing newsletters, public relations and public affairs. </DIV>
<DIV>So have any of you helped kids or youth and if so what did you do? What
accomodations did you use? If I work at a camp or recreation setting, I know
they will wonder how I can manage children.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I’ve thought about trying some nonprofit around here and seeing what I
can do to assist the youth.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks.</DIV>
<DIV>Ashley</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>_______________________________________________<BR>Community-service
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<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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