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Frontier College is Canada's original literacy organization. In Toronto, we recruit volunteers to work with learners in the following literacy programs. We screen and train all of our volunteers before they go into the community.
For more information or to volunteer with Frontier College in Toronto, please call 416-923-3591 or email toronto@frontiercollege.ca.
Toronto Directory of Children and Youth Learning Support Programs
This interactive directory is a resource for program coordinators, parents and volunteers who are seeking information on learning programs, such as homework clubs and reading programs for children and youth living in Toronto. It provides information on the location of agencies throughout the city and key information about the learning programs they offer.
Please click here to go directly to the site.
This directory is also available as a PDF. Please send a request to: Toronto@frontiercollege.ca.
One of our longest running Reading Circle programs takes place at the Gerrard Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club in the Regent Park area, helping foster a love of reading and improve the reading skills of local elementary school children.
The North York Women's Shelter runs a Reading Circle program once a week with Frontier College volunteers, reading with children housed temporarily at the shelter with their mothers who are escaping violent situations.
In addition to the Reading Circle, the North York Women's Shelter also provides a homework support program for the children once a week with the assistance of Frontier College volunteers.
The San Romanoway After-School Program is located at the San Romanoway Revitalization Association. Through the After-School Program, children have an opportunity to learn and study their homework in a safe and supervised environment.
Frontier College volunteers help with after-school programs at Doorsteps Neighbourhood Services at the Daystrom Public School and Gracedale Public School. Tutors assist children between the ages of 6 and 12, many of whom are newcomers to the country, with reading or completing homework.
Dr. Roz's Healing Place, formerly known as The Emily Stowe Shelter for Abused Women and Children, is a shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Programs run twice a week and volunteers are involved with helping the kids with homework. Children, who range in age from 5 to 17, are eager for homework help each week
The Enrichment Program at Gardenview Cooperative in Scarborough is for children who reside in the co-operative building. This community has few resources and no funding for a children's program. Frontier College volunteers have created a literacy-based curriculum that includes homework help, writing activities and fun literacy games.
The program at the Alexandra Park Community Centre provides homework support as well as helping build reading skills with a lively and enthusiastic group of elementary school children living in the Alexandra Park housing community.
The Newcomer Homework Club program helps children and youth in elementary and junior high school with their homework, reading, and study skills. The program is run in partnership with the Regent Park Community Health Centre and has the strong support of the Somali and African community living in Regent Park.
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School is an elementary school in Scarborough where demographics are always changing as a result of the surrounding community's transient population. The program is available to a special group of students from Grades 2 to 6, as determined by the principal and their teachers. Frontier College volunteers work one-to-one or in small groups to help improve literacy and numeracy skills.
Julliette's Place (Homeward Family Shelter) is a not-for-profit, community-based agency which provides safe refuge for abused women and their children. Volunteers are paired up with children on a one-to-one basis for homework help and ongoing literacy support.
Frontier College also works with Manulife Financial to operate workplace-based homework support and literacy programs for elementary school children from nearby schools. Manulife employees are recruited as volunteer tutors and trained by Frontier College. Partnerships are set up with local schools that recruit students who will participate in the homework help program. Once a week, students go together to one of two participating Manulife offices in downtown Toronto to work with their assigned tutor.
Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute offers students from Grades 9 to OAC extensive courses in academic, performing arts, production arts, visual arts and technology. Frontier College tutors provide one-to-one or in-class support with homework, reading and general literacy skills for students in the Special Education Department.
Heydon Park Secondary School is the only strictly vocational school for girls in Toronto, serving girls and young women from all over the city. The tutoring program provides literacy and homework support for students participating in various vocational-oriented learning programs. Tutors primarily provide in-class support to several students at a time.
The Native Women's Resource Centre provides various support services for Aboriginal women, including literacy and GED programs. Tutors provide one-to-one support for learners taking part in these programs.
The Families Learning Together program in Scarborough offers one-to-one or small group tutoring for adult newcomers to Canada, as well as a learning program for their school-age children. While the adults are engaged with their tutors, the children work on developing their reading and writing skills, receive help with homework, and participate in various interactive learning games and craft activities with a group of volunteer tutors. This arrangement allows families to participate in the learning program together without the need for arranging childcare.
The Newcomer Adult ESL Program in Regent Park is an off-shoot of the Homework Club program. Most of the learners are parents of the children in the program, primarily Somali and East African women who have had limited opportunity to study English in Canada and may have had limited schooling in their home countries. Tutors and learners focus on essential English reading, writing and communication skills, as well as job search and citizenship.
The Adult ESL Program at the Alexandra Park Community Centre assists parents and grandparents of pre-school children who are participating in the Early Years program at the centre. Learners range from basic beginner to intermediate level. Tutors work one-to-one or with small groups of learners, assisting them with essential English communication skills, including vocabulary, pronunciation and speaking.
The Independent Studies Program is a community-based adult literacy program located in downtown Toronto that provides learning opportunities to people with disabilities. The program helps students work towards greater self-confidence and personal independence so that they can take part in or move on to other educational, employment or life opportunities. Most of the learners live with some form of cognitive or developmental disability, so the program is not suitable for students with diagnosed or suspected learning disabilities.
We look for volunteers who enjoy the challenges and rewards of working with adults who may have different ways of learning and defining progress. There are no "special techniques" or "expert methods" for working with people with developmental disabilities. We assist real people to develop realistic skills that help them live in the real world. The role of the tutor is to facilitate learning through encouragement, guidance and support to achieve meaningful learning goals set with a student.
Learners work on learning outcomes such as reading, writing, math and basic computer skills in a creative project-based way. These learning outcomes also include interpersonal skills, life skills, learning how to learn skills, improving confidence, self-esteem, and practical living skills.
Frontier College offers programs for youth at several Toronto locations. The Beat the Street services include literacy upgrading, a GED preparation course and computer skills training. The program includes literacy and basic skills training, a GED preparation course, and computer skills training. Participants can focus on one or two areas or can move through all three.
Beat the Street/Literacy and Basic Skills
The Literacy and Basic Skills program helps students improve reading, writing, and math skills so that they can find and keep a job, or go on to further education or training. Students learn in a supportive environment.
Beat the Street/GED Preparation Course
This course prepares students to pass the GED exams and receive the Ontario High School Equivalency Certificate issued by the Ministry of Education. Completing the GED exam opens doors to post-secondary education and helps students qualify for apprenticeships.
Beat the Street/Computer Skills Training
The computer skills training program offers a flexible way for students to gain valuable computer skills. They learn Microsoft Office using the latest interactive, computer-based training program. Students can also receive certification as a Microsoft Office Specialist in our authorized testing centre. This is the only comprehensive certification program designed to validate desktop computer skills using Microsoft Office programs.
The Labourer-Teacher program (LT for short) is the original literacy program of Frontier College. We recruit, train and send Labourer-Teachers to work and teach across Canada.
Currently Labourer-Teachers are placed primarily in agricultural settings: on farms and in processing plants. They have also worked on rail gangs, in lumber and mining camps, in prisons, in urban factories and in remote communities.
Wherever they are, Labourer-Teachers do the same heavy labour jobs as other workers. In peak season, this can mean 12 hours per day, 6-7 days per week. For this work, Labourer-Teachers are paid the same as their co-workers - usually minimum wage.
In addition to this physical work, Labourer-Teachers volunteer their time to provide educational and recreational opportunities for their co-workers. These activities are determined by the interests of people in their workplace. For example, a Labourer-Teacher might:
- help workers upgrade their English or French skills
- organize a baseball game or a movie night
- give out information about workplace safety and procedures
- provide peer counselling, mediation and contact with outside agencies such as schools
For more information or to volunteer with Frontier College in Toronto, please call 416-923-3591 or email toronto@frontiercollege.ca
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