Placer volunteers need funds to help young readers with those simple but hard English words

You might not recognize her name, but Linda LoBue is an icon in elementary education circles in Placer County.

With little fanfare, her nonprofit, Sight Word Busters, annually teaches 3,000 kids to master “sight” words — frequently used words (such as “the,” “some,” “said,” “have,” and “who”) that often are hard for young learners to sound out. Being able to recognize instantly those common but troublesome words makes getting through a sentence easier and paves the way to fluency.

By any measure, Sight Word Busters is going gangbusters across Placer County. It is in 128 classrooms and nearly two dozen public and private schools.

The group’s 350 volunteers range from middle school students to grandparents and they spend a minimum of an hour a week for 30 weeks helping out in the classroom. That usually involves working one-on-one with students in two-minute intervals.

Each volunteer is trained, and works from a 97-page student book created by LoBue, a former elementary school teacher and principal.

The good news is the program’s success. But that’s created demand from other schools, and there’s insufficient funding to meet it, LoBue said. Ten elementary schools are currently on a waiting list — including schools in Davis, Sacramento, West Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin, Wheatland, Penn Valley, Antelope and North Highlands.

The program, now in its 15th year, depends on donations from individuals and small organizations. Schools pay a small fee to join. But it isn’t enough to fund expansion.

Help for pamphlets, recruiting and training

Which is why LoBue is hoping readers of The Bee’s Book of Dreams will be inspired this holiday season to offer support to bring the program to new schools. LoBue has set a goal of $5,000 to underwrite the printing of more pamphlets, recruiting and training more volunteers and providing training materials.

“As a retired teacher and principal, I saw this as one little thing we can do to support reading that can be done in short bursts of time and really help the teacher and the students,” she said. “About 70 % of the (material) that children read in first grade consists of sight words.

“Once those are committed to memory, fluency and comprehension can take off.”

On a recent morning, Sight Word Buster volunteer and retired teacher Lysa Sassman stepped into a first-grade classroom at the Sierra Hills School in Meadow Vista, where 24 students sat in a group on the floor listening to a teacher reading a book. While class went on, Sassman took up shop at a child-sized desk in the back. One by one, students took turns joining Sassman and learning a new word of the day while reviewing others.

Julian, 6, practiced his letters as a prelude to sight word work. He appeared to want to please the volunteer, who he calls Mrs. Lysa.

After his two minutes were up, he was asked what he liked about Sight Word Busters

“I like the letters … and I like the cute stickers,” he said, breaking into a big smile and giving a wave as he ran back to join his classmates who were in group discussion in the front of the room. (Stickers are a big part of the program. Shiny stars or smiley images are affixed to the inside covers of students’ workbooks at the end of each session.)

‘Helps me with words’

Another student, Declan, pondered the question a little bit, but then gave Sight Word Busters a thumbs up.

“It is pretty good. It helps me with words. I don’t do really hard ones. I’m like a normal reader, but I want to be a good reader,” he said.

A third student, Lexi, did such an excellent job, Sassman congratulated her: “Now you have the sight word of the day in your brain.”

Sierra Hills School Principal Patricia Leftridge said she is grateful to have Sight Word Busters at her school, in part because teachers don’t have many opportunities to give students one-on-one time. She also said there are many intangible benefits for students and adults alike.

“First, every child gets a one-on-one with an adult,“ she said. “A lot of our kids in society don’t have (enough of) that today. They don’t have grandparents or other adults around. The kids look forward to this, and the volunteers leave smiling, too.”

Stephen Young, president of the Sight Word Busters organization, is a retired principal and superintendent.

“I taught first and second grades and if Sight Word Busters had been available it would have made a tremendous impact on the success of my students,” he said. “It … needs to be provided widely to those teachers interested in incorporating it into their daily lives.”

Book of Dreams

The request: Placer County’s Sight Word Busters helps young readers recognize frequently used words and needs funds for materials, volunteers and to expand to more schools

The cost: $5,000

Schools on the Sight Word Busters waiting list include:

▪ Antelope Meadows Elementary School, Antelope

▪ Blue Oaks Elementary School, Roseville

▪ Quarry Trail Elementary School, Rocklin

▪ Ridgepoint Elementary School, Sacramento

▪ Sierra View Elementary School, North Highlands

▪ Southport Elementary School, West Sacramento

▪ St. James Elementary School, Davis

▪ Wheatland Elementary School, Wheatland

▪ Williams Ranch Elementary School, Penn Valley

▪ Quail Glen Elementary, Roseville