Students at the Learning Difficulties of B.C. are learning the lost art of letter writing thanks to a few willing senior citizens.
The downtown Prince George centre focuses on tutoring individuals of all ages who have difficulties in writing and math. And now eight students from centre have paired up with eight senior citizens from Laurier Manor to correspond once a month. The program has been running for six months now, and by all accounts, it's a hit.
"The students are always so excited to receive their letters," said tutor, Erin Bauman.
Bauman, who eventually wants to become a teacher, initially cam up with the idea to involve a pen pal program into the school curriculum through a book of children's writing exercises.
She may also have remembered her own personal experiences as a child.
She's no stranger to pen pals. After having an exchange student from Denmark staying with her family when she was young, she kept in touch with her until she made her way to Europe and got to spend time with her.
Now, years later, Bauman discovered that kids are more willing to practice their writing if it serves a purpose.
"First we brainstorm, but it's all of their ideas that go into the letters," she said. "I get them to tell the seniors three things about them and then ask three things that they'd like to know about their pen pals."
The seniors send the kids letters that are as long as two typed pages, and the kids start out with two paragraphs.
The letters are sent through the mail not emailed like many people have become accustomed to, and both the students and the seniors are always excited to receive a letter in the mail, said Bauman.
Last Friday the students were given an opportunity to meet their pen pals face-to-face for the first time and the centre's barbecue.
The program encourages students to practice their penmanship, language development, sentence structure and grammar.
It also teaches the kids about the importance of becoming involved in their communities, said Bauman, while giving the senior citizens a chance to reach out and have an audience to tell their life stories.
The Learning Difficulties Centre is hoping the program becomes so popular that all of the children using the tutoring services will be able to have a pen pal of their own.
To learn more about the centre, call (250) 564-8011.
