We recently came across a wonderful charity called Beanstalk who have volunteers who we think are ‘angels’ because they help young children to read.
Each individual child gets regular time every week throughout the school year with their Reading Helper who gives them one-to-one support. Together, they read, play and talk. With Beanstalk’s support the child’s approach to learning and enjoying reading is often transformed.
Different children have different needs ranging from poor eyesight to English not being their first language. It is their teachers who identify them then the Beanstalk Reading Helpers are trained to recognise what challenges these children face and work through them. With access to a library of books and games at their local branch they can tailor their sessions best to support the children they work with.
We like to think of the Reading Helpers as “Reading Angels” …
This sketch, which in part prompted this post, is one we discovered whilst looking through a folio of Owain’s great-grandfather’s work. He was a professional artist (Otto Kubel 1868-1951) born in Dresden but who lived and worked in and around München most of his life.