Community Matters

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Graduate to Opportunity

Nothing celebrates community more than investing in the skills, passion and talent of the individuals that create that community. The Nova Scotia government's program, Graduate to Opportunity, allowed us to invest in 3 full-time staff members in September 2017. As a result of that investment, Halifax Learning now has the human resources to expand our reach and continue to achieve our goal - to eradicate illiteracy with evidence-based programs like SpellRead in Nova Scotia, Canada and beyond.

Since growing our team with the GTO program, Halifax Learning has been enabled to:

  • continued to provide the Gold-standard in reading remediation at our various locations in HRM.
  • provided training and support to staff at Halifax Independent School.
  • improved our SpellRead delivery model with HRM's Youth Advocate Program.
  • launched Painting Mind Pictures, a comprehension program, with Speech Language Pathologist Natalie Samson from the Family Development Centre.

Learn more about the SpellRead program by downloading our Program Walkthrough or subscribe to our blog to learn more about the science of reading. 

Program Walkthrough


 

Meet Our Administrative Coordinator

halifax learning spellread reading help tutoring structured literacy

Shakisha is a recent graduate of Dalhousie University, with a BA in Sociology and Social Anthropology, Shakisha brought innovation, productivity and a meticulous attention to detail.  She immediately embraced our mission, embodies our values and makes a mean Philly Cheesesteak Burger. Halifax Learning is pleased to participate in the Nova Scotia governments Graduate to Opportunity program. 

"Hiring well-educated post-secondary graduates in Nova Scotia is made easier for employers with the help the provincial funding program, Graduate to Opportunity (GTO). Eligible employers can receive 25% of a grad’s first year salary and 12.5% of the grad’s second year salary from the Government. This incentive made it easier for Halifax Learning to hire Shakisha right out of university." Read more of Shakisha's story, "Recent Grad's Career Journey Comes Full Circle". 

Videos

Check out SpellRead in the classroom!

"SpellRead retrains the brain by building connections between the sound system and the student's oral language."

 


Thanks for having us CTV Morning Live!

Watch Heidi Petracek try Speed Reading, a critical element that sets the SpellRead program apart!


 

Check Out Ooka Island in Action!

Articles

"Of Sound and Syllable"

By Frances Willick
Education Reporter

Cole started the SpellRead program at the Halifax Learning Centre midway through Grade 7. When he returned to school for Grade 8, his teachers couldn’t believe the difference. Cole was confident. He put his hand up in class. He wanted to participate at school. He joined the leadership and yearbook committees.

Read more here

 


 

Maritime company develops fun app that helps children learn to read

Ooka Island is a place where children from pre-kindergarten to Grade 2 are able to escape for some fun, while learning fundamental tools like reading.

“Every child, the first thing they do is create an avatar on the island. So they are sent to Ooka Island as a hero and to teach the Ooka elves how to read,” says app co-creator Joelle MacPhee. “That is putting them on a personalized path and the program will start adapting to their strengths and weakness. So every child will have a different learning experience.”

Read the full article here.