Oak Hill Seniors and Kindergarteners Make Great Reading Team

Chances are that when June Sphen, Lillian Ramirez and Olive Merchant went to school, they learned to read with the help of the McGuffey Readers, the best-known series of books in the 19th century. But today, they were among the seniors who are helping the five-year-olds from the Early Education Center in Round Lake, IL, learn to read once a month at the new Oak Hill Supportive Living Community in Round Lake Beach, IL.
The program was started by Early Education Center teacher, Lana Ryba, and Shannon Wagner, Community Life Manager at Oak Hill. “Lana and I think this is a win-win program. The kids get mentors who read to them and listen while they read, and our residents get to enjoy the company of children and feel a sense of accomplishment. Actually there is another big win — everybody has fun,” said Wagner.
Oak Hill is operated by Des Plaines, IL-based Pathways Senior Living, LLC, whose operating philosophy is called VIVA™, which means ‘Long Live!’ “VIVA is at the heart of everything we do here. In our social programs, we want our residents to have experiences rather than just activities, and helping children learn to read is a great experience,” said Wagner.
At 10:30 AM on the day of a recent reading session, 26 excited and chattering kindergarteners filed into the Community Room at Oak Hill carrying brightly colored paper flowers they had made for the seniors who were waiting for them. After a brief instruction from Ryba, they dispersed into activity groups. Some went to tables set up with crayons, colored pencils and work sheets designed to help them print words, spell words and color in line-art characters.
Others curled up on couches with their seniors, presented them with flowers and began reading. If they couldn’t read a word or pronounced it wrong, their mentors gently assisted them. When the session was over, the kids formed a line and filed out of Oak Hill, waiving goodbyes to their new friends.