Learning Buddies Network of the Lower Mainland Society
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Learning Buddies Network is to provide volunteer one-on-one tutoring and mentoring at no cost to academically and socially fragile children in the Lower Mainland. At the same time, we provide meaningful and inspiring volunteer leadership opportunities to the dedicated young people who volunteer their time as tutors and site coordinators.
About This Cause
We believe poverty and social disadvantage should not be barriers to academic success. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and gain confidence in his or her academic abilities. The sad reality is that in the Lower Mainland, there are many children who struggle with basic academics and are raised in environments where their families do not have the financial resources, time or language skills to help them. As young as grade 2, these fragile learners have already experienced academic disappointment. They want to learn and have the confidence in their abilities that their classmates enjoy, but need more than their schools are able to provide. LBN’s unique program combines two elements: individual mentorship with a young adult committed to working with a particular child, and an intervention program designed specifically for the child’s unique needs. A key element we strive for is excellence in program delivery. The combination of the encouragement and commitment of the tutor and the hard work of the child yields improvement. We see that self-esteem follows from practical accomplishments. The result is a leveling of the playing field for our Little Buddies. They return to their classrooms as full participants. Our tutors and senior volunteers learn what it is to give of oneself and see a child flourishing because of one’s efforts. Our greatest priority is to provide a necessary service to discouraged children who are struggling academically. Our programs are directed towards children who have experienced difficulties in reading or math. Their challenges may be rooted in a social, educational or economic disadvantage context or a combination thereof. Many of our students or “Little Buddies” are from immigrant or refugee families and may have cultural barriers that result in inequality of opportunity. In many of these homes English is not the first language and parents are unable to assist their child’s English based learning journey. Often poverty, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) or toxic stress are factors. As a result, these children fall behind academically and as they do, their enthusiasm for learning wanes and their confidence and self-esteem diminish. Schools can only do so much during the school day to help these children. They require additional, accessible out of school support so that they may develop a love of learning, achieve academic success, and continue to learn on a level playing field with their peers. We observe that as our Little Buddies discover their capabilities and feel pride in their accomplishments, that pride, self worth and learning capacity is carried back into the classroom and home. The parents are very grateful their child has had the opportunity to receive this kind of one-on-one academic support and take great pride in their children’s improved school attitude and accomplishments. There is a significant benefit to the participating elementary schools that would otherwise not have the capacity to provide this kind of individual attention to their students. The feedback we receive from the teachers and school administrators is that our programs impact the entire school community. Students who may have been previously withdrawn and reluctant to participate in the classroom are engaged, happy and succeeding. Finally, LBN provides meaningful and rewarding volunteer opportunities for youth and young adults in the Lower Mainland. Our mentors are split between University students and senior high school students. These are high achieving young people who want to make a difference in a child’s life. The relationship that grows between mentor and Little Buddy is very significant to both parties. Our mentors and site leaders grow in maturity, confidence, empathy and leadership skills. As of summer 2020, LBN pivoted to online mentoring considering that in-person was not possible with Covid restrictions. We adapted our reading program and offered it to twice the number of children in the summer of 2020 than in 2019-- so popular, accessible and needed was it for struggling children. We continued with our reading programs through the school year, maintaining one on one mentoring, and meeting in 'pods' of 8 pairs with teaching staff and senior volunteers supervision, twice a week. As of spring 2021, we will have provided 420 blocks of 25 mentoring sessions per child through this year, reaching children from 33 schools in the Lower Mainland. We are able to reach some remote communities too, which is our privilege. We are excited to roll out online math this summer, and will open math widely in Sep 2021. We look forward to returning to in-person mentoring when Covid allows. For now, whatever the needs our participants have —online or in person, Learning Buddies Network will be able to adapt .