Articles

We were exhibiting at a conference recently and knowing that there would be many children in attendance, we choose to bring along one of our feely tubes.  We had a quick art project going at our booth but, when young children were too shy to participate, we would offer them the feely tube.  I thought they might be wary but, to my surprise, none of them could resist.  Even the children who had a gorilla grip on their parents’ necks would light up with curiosity at the chance to touch the unknown. 

As I reflected on this experience I considered just how much young children enjoy learning through touch.  Here is a list of five activities to try the next time you want to do a “hands on” activity.

The benefits of reading aloud to children seem almost endless.  Reading aloud improves their vocabulary, stimulates their imagination, and improves their listening abilities and attention span.  It encourages them to read on their own by making reading a fun, positive experience.  While the concept is simple, having a successful read aloud session isn’t quite as easy as it sounds.  Here are a few “tricks of the trade” that will help make your read aloud a success every time.

You have finally done it! You convinced the principal and teachers to let you use the regular day classrooms after school so you can run a smoother, more effective afterschool program. Now you have to keep those rooms, which means you have to keep them clean and looking like you were never there. Following the steps below will help you maintain your classroom privileges and avoid getting stuck in the cafeteria all day.

This program was developed over six years and I have seen it work at 10
different elementary schools where the afterschool program had between 90 and
120 students attending every day.