Think, Create, Design, Play

Today we had some of the girls over to our house since they are out of school. It was their first time here and we really enjoyed it!

We launched our very informal summer reading program to try to get them more excited about reading. It's a long shot and a complicated problem that won't be solved soon, but every small effort helps.

I grew up around good libraries and lots of books and reading has always been part of my life. For these girls, reading is a chore, something they associate with school. They don't have the opportunity, setup, comfortable space, nor the desire to read much at home. They all can read but don't enjoy it, and they hardly, if ever, get so caught up in a book they can't put it down. I would imagine they would love to travel to other worlds through words on a page, to escape their life and explore other lives, but it doesn't work that way for them.

So, today we gathered some stuffed animals, found a comfy place to sit, and read out loud from Maniac Magee, a favorite. We defined big words like legend. 

They had some free reading time to choose books from piles and attempt to cross off some of their reading bingo squares. They didn't want to read – they wanted to play – but we set a timer and everyone read for 20 minutes. We'll see how well they do before we meet them again next week, if anyone will do any reading on their own.

We posed for some pictures

Next, they rotated through stations where they could choose from a few activities in each area and get a stamp. 

Think

Think station had books, electronic snap circuits, and a microscope where we looked at all sorts of cool slides (housefly mouth parts and fern leaf were favorites).

Design

Design station had Keva planks, brain flakes, kinetic sand and tools, Zoob tools, Legos, and various other manipulatives. Most liked the kinetic sand and baking tools and they 'made' cupcakes and other goodies.

Play

Play station was a favorite and the girls played games, marbles, built a race track and tested for the best cars, and of course...carrom is always a hit.

Create

Create station had art supplies and beads. R. made a heart out of beads and we ironed it to meld it.

After a great lunch of yellow daal and rice...

...we pulled the girls in a few at a time for some baking and they were great helpers. We made donuts and air popped popcorn.

After a swimming and watching Moana, it was time to say farewell till next time