In her years of reading to young children, Judy Nadell of Voorhees encountered one little girl who didn’t know a book was paged from front to back, that sentences were read from left to right or even what the words on the page represented.
“She had no idea the little black squiggles on the page told the story,” Nadell told a recent gathering of BookMates volunteers.
BookMates pairs at-risk children, many of them low-income, minority students, with caring adult readers. It was through the help of BookMates that Nadell’s young student learned both the mechanics of reading and a love of books.
At the Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill, Nadell underscored the importance of the program’s mission and its vital resource, its volunteers.
“Deep down, you may wonder does simply reading to kids make a difference,” said Nadell. “My answer to that is an unequivocal ‘yes.’”
A decade ago, Nadell was one of the founders of BookMates, a nonprofit organization now in 30 schools in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties. Many of the children are low-income, minority students.
BookMates is an interfaith program of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey and the Catholic-Jewish Commission. Each BookMates mentor reads weekly, one-on-one, to a child who is often not read to at home. These are children who may not have books at home. Many need help with vocabulary and word recognition. Others are shy and need the extra attention an interested adult can provide.
Nadell stressed that while reading is hard work, the program’s young participants come to associate reading with achievement, pleasure and “sheer fun.” Books help them learn to focus and concentrate. In the context of reading, children learn new words and the rhythm of reading out loud. Nadell, a writer/publisher, said children also benefit from one-on-one contact with a committed adult.
“Never underestimate how important it is for children to feel special and liked,” said Nadell, a writer/publisher who read and distributed a copy of her own book, “I Feel Like a Dummy.”
It’s a story about a child who feels inferior until he is praised for all his good qualities. Nadell, who holds a doctorate in education, said she based the tale on an incident in her youth when she couldn’t create a simple art project.
Rhonda Shevrin, BookMates coordinator, said educators, as well as students, love the literacy program. A Camden principal who is an enthusiastic BookMates supporter told Shevrin he tells his students: “Readers become leaders.”
For information about BookMates, call 856-751-9500, extension 143
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