Best Practices
Learning opportunities

"We incorporated free time on the computers dependent on work with homework helpers (University of Pittsburgh students). This has given students with homework something to look forward to after completing that work."

"The children have to use the timer for time management: 15 minutes of educational time before 15 minutes can be used on approved games of their choosing."

"The 11th grader who currently resides in our agency assists the younger children in doing their homework. She serves as a positive older role model for the other children."

"This past month the kids and I did a science project called Oobleck. It is a very simple project that calls for equal parts cornstarch and water. The resulting mixture has the properties of both a solid and a liquid. The kids loved the experiment because they got to be messy. And they learned something in the process.
[Oobleck was named after a Dr. Seuss character.]

"The children (7-10 years old) created 'feelings' journals of construction paper and lined notebook paper. In the journal they completed a feelings recipe that included such prompts as 'I feel . . . ,' 'I wish . . .,' etc. They worked in their journals over several weeks.

Best Practices
Special occasions

"For Halloween, we had a fourth grade girl throw us a party as a girl scout project to earn her badge. She volunteered with her mom throughout the fall to get to know our families, and then did a pajama-themed Halloween party for our families. It was very developmentally appropriate for our younger children with games like toss the candy in the pumpkin and Halloween-themed bingo using candy corn for bingo markers. They also stuffed fluffy black cats or friendly ghosts. The kids enjoyed it and it wasn't a scary Halloween for them."

"We gave our guests (three families of 3 moms and 5 children) a cooler, a small grill, and grocery vouchers, took them grocery shopping, and then dropped them off at a local park. The park had a community day celebration, and our moms and kids were able to have a cook out, play, and listen to a band all afternoon. They had a great time and were able to be on their own and feel independent."

"Ms. Wadsworth, a theater professor and acting coach, came once a week during the month to hold a workshop with our children. Emphasis was placed on role playing, imagination, creativity, and monologues. All the children who attended had a wonderful time and kept asking when Ms. Jill was coming back!"

"We also had a good talk with members of the local fire department. They came and talked to 12 kids who were in the Learning Center. One firefighter put on most of his fire fighting clothing. Several of the kids were very frightened, but most were eventually able to touch his clothes and boots and understand that he was still the same person."

See also Best Practices - Successes

(5/15/09)