Zahir was assessed by our LEADR in July of 2021 and staff met with him to develop his learning goals. He is a father of 5 children two of which are under four. Zahir talked a great deal about wanting to read with his children. He really missed out on this with his older children but would love to do it with his younger ones. He worked from August to October 2021 focused on basic skills and was progressing but slowly. He could identify letters and had mastered the early words in a adult beginner instruction book.
Zahir works a full-time job leaving his house, in the Ajax- Pickering area, at about 5 AM to take public transit to his job at a factory in Markham. He reverses that process at the end of his day arriving home between 7:30 and 8. He meets with staff two nights a week online between 7:30 and 9 to work on his reading skills.
Out of necessity Zahir has developed great memory skills so we decided to take advantage of that. One of the goals he expressed was to be able to read to his young children, so we decided to tackle that goal first. We chose to learn to read Dr Zeus’s Green Eggs and Ham. We spent about 6 weeks focusing on the 50 words in this book. Zahir was very excited by Christmas when he was able to give his children a copy of the book and read it to them.
Since Christmas we have been focusing on the vocabulary required to pass the written test G1 test, so Zahir can begin the process of getting a driver’s licence. Getting a Driver’s licence will reduce the hours each day Zahir spends travelling to and from work. This will also increase the hours each day he can spend with his children. Some evenings as we work together online Zahir’s children are climbing all over him because they have not seen him that day.
Programs like ours help our learners take steps toward giving them some independents and an ability to work toward small attainable goals. With the support of the United Way, LEADR has been able to enhance its online training during Covid and for leaners like Zahir who are unable to meet in person.
