About Strong Start ®
Strong Start® is a community project, started in 2001, to help ensure that all our children learn to read. It is supported through:
- financial donations from corporations, individuals, community groups, service clubs, charitable Foundations, and so on.
- gifts of time and talents from hundreds of volunteers who experience the joy of making a difference in the lives of many children.
Strong Start® is a registered charity with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (#858636434RR0001). Strong Start® issues official receipts for income tax purposes.
Goals
- Assist young children in learning some initial reading skills.
- Build community by encouraging those who live and work in the community to be involved in supporting its children.
- Provide a meaningful volunteer opportunity.
Literacy skills are the strongest indicator of a child’s future success in life. The percentage of the population that reads at an acceptable level is a great predictor of the success of a community in maintaining economic growth and an excellent quality of life. Therefore, the community as a whole needs to take responsibility for helping children learn to read.
Current Major Activity
- Letters Sounds and Words Program - Standard
a volunteer-driven program that yearly helps about 1900 children learn initial reading skills. This program is well established and currently being used by six School Boards in the province of Ontario. >> Go to Letters Sounds and Words - Standard for program details.- Get Ready For School
- a program being introduced and tested in Waterloo Region, Ontario for preschool children who are at risk of being disadvantaged in their readiness to learn to read when they enter Junior Kindergarten. >> Go to Get Ready For School for program details.
- Baby Literacy
- a project to encourage and support parents of 6-12 month old babies in engaging their child in brain development activities that lay the groundwork for good language and literacy development. >> Go to Baby Literacy for project details.
- Helping Immigrant Children
- Strong Start® recognizes the challenges facing new immigrants and is working to support them:
- a) Our Letters Sounds and Words program - Standard has proven successful with children aged 5-7 for whom English as a second language is a factor in their reading development. >> Go to Letters Sounds and Words - Standard for program details.
- b) A new component of the Letters Sounds and Words program for English Language Learners has been developed so that the program can be used with 7-9 year old children who are new immigrants needing to learn to speak and read English at the same time. >> Go to Letters Sounds and Words for English Language Learners for program details.
c) The Get Ready For School program focuses on preschool children aged 3 ½ to 4 in families where English is a second language. >> Go to Get Ready For School for program details.
More About Strong Start®
Strong Start® History
CONTACTS
Provincial Office
- Machelle Denison, Executive Director
- Kim Krueger-Kischak, Baby Literacy Project
- Inge Ford, Get Ready For School Project
- Address: 20 Crestview Place, Kitchener ON N2B 0A2
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-743-9578
Offices for Letters Sounds and Words programs currently operating
Brant Haldimand Norfolk area
(programs in Grand Erie District School Board and Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board)
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 26004, 260 St. Paul Ave., Brantford, ON N3R 7X4
- Mieke Schroeder, Program Co-ordinator
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-759-8372
- Vicky Spadoni, Resource Development Officer
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-754-4958
Waterloo Region
(programs in Waterloo Region District School Board and Waterloo Catholic District School Board and private schools in Waterloo Region)
- Inge Ford, Program Co-ordinator
- Contact the Provincial Office
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-743-9578
Wellington County
(programs in the Wellington Catholic District School Board)
- Pam Valeriote, Program Co-ordinator
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-763-1934 | cell 519-731-0121
Elgin, London, Middlesex and Oxford Counties
(programs in the Thames Valley District School Board)
- Mieke Schroeder, Program Co-ordinator
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-759-8372
City of Hamilton
(programs in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board)
- Mieke Schroeder, Program Co-ordinator
- e-mail:
- phone: 519-759-8372
