"the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life." Wow! That is not only a mouthful but a brainful. It is our goal to achieve each part of that definition especially the part of "preparing for mature life."
This blog could go on and on for me, because, basically, everything in life is about education in one form or another. With that said, I will just highlight some of the educational aspects of our program. The first is our homework time. Personal attention is so important for our students. This is especially true at homework time. Many would-be volunteers are nervous about being able to help with homework, but most homework is just listening to reading, quizzing on spelling words and going over math facts.
We have found that many children do not solidify their math facts, because there is not sufficient time to practice them. Math is about repetition to mastery. I strongly disagree with some of my professors who feel if a child can do five problems they can do thirty. Once a child has mastered a concept, practice is tantamount to moving the process from short term to long term memory. This is the problem with such a little amount of homework for children. This is why, in our program, even if the child does not have homework or finishes early we have many activities to enrich what they have studied in school and to refresh past ideas.
Part of the homework time is devoted to their journal entries. Each child has a journal that they must write in every day. They have their choice of topics. We also provide writing prompts if they hit a creative block. Ms. Rotterman and I then check each of their work to help them with grammatical changes, ideas and sentence structure. The children know that these works are not graded, and they are an opportunity to learn and be creative. On their own, the children have taken the creativity to another level and have begun writing elaborate tongue twisters and poems. As a high school teacher, I was appalled at how many students could not write a paragraph let alone an essay. I explain to the children that writing is like music and sports and many other activities; one only gets better with practice.
Journal entries are also a unique time for me to learn more about each of our members. Being of a special education background I use this opportunity to look for deficits in writing and cognitive processes. It also often gives me insight into a child's background and emotional state. I have discovered on several occasions, life events that directly affect a child's behavior and academic performance.
Differentiating instruction for the students is also a priority for me especially with my educational background. We provide activities that reach all of the types of learners: oral, auditory and kinesthetic. For spelling, we have magnetic boards with raised letters, and felt letters with hook and loop fasteners to spell their spelling words. A homework-time favorite is our rice boxes. The children use the depth of rice to spell their words as they verbalize the words and letters with their fingers. This gives them an oral and tactile sensation to help solidify their words to long term memory.
We also offer several different math practices. The children love using the abacus for both addition and multiplication. They use raised multiplication boards, flash cards and counting cubes. As our program grows, I am hoping to obtain and use more math manipulatives especially for geometric shapes and fractions.
We also have many board games that address science, social studies and grammar. The children love any form of bingo. Many times in the classroom, the government forces the children to learn information that is just that: information that is crammed into their heads for test taking purposes. We hope that we can spend the extra time in developing critical thinkers, in helping them apply the knowledge they learn the classroom and teaching the "whole" child.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, we can not separate the head from the body and the heart. I feel like every activity and experience we provide and share is a contribution to our goal of preparing these children for a mature life. There are so many wonderful and amazing things in the world around us, I want to give the members a tast of as much as possible. I have learned through my education that a well-informed mind is the best conscience. We continue to education through all the support of the community and our volunteer staff and continue to look for volunteers to share a short afternoon with our youth.
Until next week...Keep it R.E.A.L.!
We have found that many children do not solidify their math facts, because there is not sufficient time to practice them. Math is about repetition to mastery. I strongly disagree with some of my professors who feel if a child can do five problems they can do thirty. Once a child has mastered a concept, practice is tantamount to moving the process from short term to long term memory. This is the problem with such a little amount of homework for children. This is why, in our program, even if the child does not have homework or finishes early we have many activities to enrich what they have studied in school and to refresh past ideas.
Part of the homework time is devoted to their journal entries. Each child has a journal that they must write in every day. They have their choice of topics. We also provide writing prompts if they hit a creative block. Ms. Rotterman and I then check each of their work to help them with grammatical changes, ideas and sentence structure. The children know that these works are not graded, and they are an opportunity to learn and be creative. On their own, the children have taken the creativity to another level and have begun writing elaborate tongue twisters and poems. As a high school teacher, I was appalled at how many students could not write a paragraph let alone an essay. I explain to the children that writing is like music and sports and many other activities; one only gets better with practice.
Journal entries are also a unique time for me to learn more about each of our members. Being of a special education background I use this opportunity to look for deficits in writing and cognitive processes. It also often gives me insight into a child's background and emotional state. I have discovered on several occasions, life events that directly affect a child's behavior and academic performance.
Differentiating instruction for the students is also a priority for me especially with my educational background. We provide activities that reach all of the types of learners: oral, auditory and kinesthetic. For spelling, we have magnetic boards with raised letters, and felt letters with hook and loop fasteners to spell their spelling words. A homework-time favorite is our rice boxes. The children use the depth of rice to spell their words as they verbalize the words and letters with their fingers. This gives them an oral and tactile sensation to help solidify their words to long term memory.
We also offer several different math practices. The children love using the abacus for both addition and multiplication. They use raised multiplication boards, flash cards and counting cubes. As our program grows, I am hoping to obtain and use more math manipulatives especially for geometric shapes and fractions.
We also have many board games that address science, social studies and grammar. The children love any form of bingo. Many times in the classroom, the government forces the children to learn information that is just that: information that is crammed into their heads for test taking purposes. We hope that we can spend the extra time in developing critical thinkers, in helping them apply the knowledge they learn the classroom and teaching the "whole" child.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, we can not separate the head from the body and the heart. I feel like every activity and experience we provide and share is a contribution to our goal of preparing these children for a mature life. There are so many wonderful and amazing things in the world around us, I want to give the members a tast of as much as possible. I have learned through my education that a well-informed mind is the best conscience. We continue to education through all the support of the community and our volunteer staff and continue to look for volunteers to share a short afternoon with our youth.
Until next week...Keep it R.E.A.L.!
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