Target 3 – Flexible Learning Environments FWSU will maximize flexible learning environments by redefining the school day, promoting learning experiences that extend beyond the school classroom, and fostering creativity, innovation, and differentiated learning opportunities for all.
Action Step –Provide students with access to content, resources, and methods for learning beyond the school day and beyond the school walls. Develop opportunities for students to collaborate, innovate,create and conceptualize in all learning settings.
Indicator of Success - Students are engaged in answering authentic questions and solving problems in collaborative settings.
It’s almost summer, that time of year when teachers bid farewell to students. It’s also the time of year when parents take on the challenge of keeping their children physically busy and mentally active during long summer days.
As students set out on summer adventures, many educational activities to share and enjoy can be found at websites such as Family Education or Education World. These on-line sources for children’s activities offer parents ideas for active learning opportunities for children of all ages- activities that can happen in your back yard or at the playground near your home. If you have run out of steam creating your own summer adventurers, this list can rescue your kids from the boredom and blahs of rainy summer days at home.
Do you want to explore Vermont with your children? Try Vermont’s Find and Go Seek website. You will find a variety of activities in Vermont for Vermont Kids- sign-up for Miss Magpie’s Newsletter to keep current with things to do with children in our area.
Keep your kids reading all summer long! You will find great current suggestions on many websites; try these- Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge or Education World. Do you enjoy reading good adolescent literature with your children? The Vermont Department of Libraries has published the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Awards List for 2015-16. Check out the book reviews for these books here, and go to a nearby library to check them out. These are the latest and the greatest in young adolescent literature. They are usually quick and interesting shared-reads with your older children. Looking for new books for younger children? Try the new books receiving the Vermont Red Clover Books award. Again, try your library to find copies of the latest children’s books.
Take the opportunity of long summer days to encourage early and continuous learning opportunities for your children. Eighty percent of a child’s brain is developed by age three and 90% by age five. The brain connections made during this time lay the foundation for success in school and in life. Check our Let’s Grow Kids for more information.
Summer offers time for learning to continue beyond the walls of the school building! Curiosity drives the very best learning- it is indeed nature’s original school of education.
The FWSU Story 