Consider Enrichment Sessions for your under-achieving child!
Do you have a bright student …
- … who claims to be ‘bored’ at school?
- … whose grades don’t show just how smart you know her to be?
- … whose teachers maintain his grades should be better ~ because he’s just not trying?
Do you find yourself arguing, nagging, double-/triple-/endlessly-checking due dates for ~
- homework,
- papers,
- projects,
- quizzes,
- tests?
Does this happen in all academic areas, or only one or two?
Research has shown that ‘bored’ students are often simply not challenged sufficiently and, therefore, ‘check out’ by refusing to interact with teachers and peers; they ~
- won’t do any homework ~
- won’t show the math steps ~
- won’t rewrite/revise written work ~
- won’t review material before a test ~
- often won’t even do the daily homework . . . . .
It does not have to be this way!!! There are numerous strategies which can easily be integrated into a “FUN” weekly session (45, 60, 90 or 120 minutes long, depending on the student’s age, interests and needs; occasionally two or even three sessions per week).
I have successfully incorporated learning and brain research Strategy Methods with some of Maria Montessori’s theories of learning through play: “. . . an approach to learning which emphasizes active learning, independence, cooperation, and learning in harmony with each student’s unique pace of development.” [https://www.learning-theories.com/montessori-method-montessori]
I encourage students to build on a specific interest by developing projects ~ we then blend in ~
- reading and research;
- writing;
- computer literacy;
- age-appropriate basic scientific principles;
- foundational
- math,
- engineering,
- architecture,
- and more!
- music;
- art;
- arts and crafts ~
all while the students are enjoying the exploration of their interests. They think it’s simply FUN!
Each student works at his/her own pace, with no other students to distract from what they’re doing: it’s one student and me ~ and the student is ‘in the driver’s seat’. Meanwhile, I am encouraging
- creative thinking (what materials do we have? How will we use them? Are we doing a 3D or 2D piece? Electronic or on paper? This relates to focus and paying attention at school);
- planning (what needs to happen first? Next? What additional items do we need to continue and then complete it?);
- revision (returning to the project to make bits and parts better and better; this transfers and manifests itself in proofreading and doing multiple drafts of an assignment);
- follow through and completion (each week brings a new ‘idea’, but sometimes we have to finish a project from a previous week before we can move on to the next ~ that sense of fulfillment and pride when it is done ultimately carries over to schoolwork and becomes a life skill);
- students choose their own medium of expression so they are fully engaged in a topic ~ I don’t mandate the type, style or composition of a project;
- I utilize their inherent curiosity to want to learn more, allowing them to explore and learn while having a good time, not being graded on it;
- we both rely on their innate intelligence to complete the project by returning to it again and again, refining it, and making it better;
- I integrate as many educational strategies as I can ~ strategies we typically associate with ‘homework” ~ I merge them with the project, and later discuss how they can be applied at school.
- One 10 year old Enrichment student built cities ~ very hands-on and kinesthetic.
- Some wrote stories about ~
- small children, and then worked online for photos to illustrate the stories;
- birds, and nests, and chickens, and even created them in 3D!
- Homecoming ~ complete with photos; her mom then went to Shutterfly to have it printed into a book!
- A 5 year old explored the relationship between sounds and letters and words by making potholders and weaving on the small looms ~ at 7 years old, of course, he had no idea he was doing anything other than weaving, but as he wove, we talked about the alphabet ~ the colors in his weavings corresponded to letters, then sounds, then consonants and vowels ~ which combined to create words. His pot-holders became physical representations of auditory sounds ~ and reading became fun and exciting and do-able!
- One 8 year old constantly asked, “Why?” and “How?”, so we took things apart and put them back together ~ and discussed completing electrical circuitry; or we looked at how things worked (clocks/metronomes/gears) and then wrote about the mechanisms and answered the “Why?” and “How?” questions.
- What will your child do?
They all thought we were ‘playing’, yet they were learning powerful concepts which will stay with them for the rest of their lives ~ long term ~ and help them in school ~ short-term!
Enrichment sessions are not a “quick-fix”, nor are they suitable for all students ~ please call and we can chat about your particular, individual, wonderful, unique child and how I can help reduce your stress at home and at school by helping to draw out the learner who wants to excel and is, once again, eager to learn.
Call the Stone House Studio today at 262.377.5959
These are the chickens to correspond with a story written by an Enrichment Student ~ this is only the beginning ~
These are a couple of the pot-holders a 5 year old Enrichment student made while we worked on letters and sounds.
A different loom ~ a different student ~ this 6 year old just liked weaving:
Illustrations for a story ~
