Field Trips Enhance Learning

 Going on an adventure outside the daily norm can enhance a child's learning experiences. 

This group of children enjoyed a day at Patterson Farm.

This child enjoyed picking a pumpkin. She is just now beginning to verbalize. During the puppet show she jumped up and exclaimed loudly, "What is that?" A sentence, a full sentence with no prompting. Awesome progress due to providing alternative learning experiences.

Here is the same child feeding the animals, she got so tickled at shouting the names of the animals and the sounds that they made.

Deborah K. Howell, M.Ed.

The Difference a Teacher Can Make!

I had planned for this blog to be about the information I learned during a session at NCaeyc, but I was so moved by the story of a woman I met at a workshop I attended Friday, that I felt the need to share.

A quite woman who sat at my table during a workshop I attended in Morganton, NC, shared with me the story of her daughter. The woman herself works in early intervention as well as serves on the board of her county's school system.

This woman's daughter was diagnosed with Autism at a very young age.

Diagnosed as young girl

She told me that she has been fighting with the school system throughout the years for the right to appropriate education for her child. They have encountered many obstacles and her daughter has had  difficulty with school work, making low grades, failing EOGs and other benchmark tests.

One year in junior high school, her daughter was put in the class of a very special teacher. The teacher saw the potential of the girl. She harnessed her talents and encouraged her to want to learn and participate with her peers in school.

One Special Teacher

That year, she passed her EOGs with 3s and 4s for the first time ever! She was motivated to go to school each day, make new friends, and study for her classes.

This past year, during her junior year in high school, she was voted and crowned prom queen!

Prom Queen!

I have heard other similar stories about people with special needs succeeding and accomplishing great things and I think that it is simply awesome and inspiring!

The truth is that teachers do make a difference in the lives of their students and have the power to motivate and pave the way for success in the future.

Making a difference each day!

I hope that you will be inspired, as much as I was, to make a difference in the lives of children you work with each day!

Katie Zink, ITFS-P

When was the last time you played outside?

THE LOST ART OF FORT BUILDING

I attended our annual NCAEYC conference in Raleigh this past week. Like perusing the menu at a favorite restaurant, each year I eagerly scan the list of workshops and carefully make my selections. The description of the workshop Build It---And They Will Come pointed out the many learning opportunities derived from the age-old childhood activity of fort building. I was intrigued, so I decided to pursue the matter further and attend the workshop.

Building a blanket fort requires:

• Cooperation (if more than one person is involved in this activity)

• Planning

• Problem-solving

• Persistence

• Imagination

• Effective use of available resources

• A sense of pride and accomplishment in the outcome

I decided to take my concerns to my lab (home) and invite some test subjects (my grandchildren). The results of my small study showed that the art of fort building is, in fact, alive and well in the imagination of today’s young children. My conclusion: Go build a fort with a favorite youngster. You’ll have a blast!

Katherine Generaux, Community Inclusion

Valuable Lessons Learned

As you may know, the staff at Partners In Learning attended the NCaeyc (NC Association for the Education of Young Children) conference in Raleigh this past weekend! We had so many amazing opportunities to learn and bring back new ideas to our classrooms.

Michelle Macon and Katie Zink presenting on Relationship Building

Each of us attended five sessions of workshops and some of us even got the chance to present to conference attendees.

Moving Keynote Presentation

While I personally learned a lot from these sessions, I believe that the most influential part of this conference was the motivation to come back to use the techniques and ideas that I learned with the children I see everyday!

Teacher-Made Materials

I am so excited to get to put my recently gained knowledge with these children! Stay posted for more blogs on some of the specific lessons learned this past weekend!

Katherine Zink, ITFS/P