Clearly, I have been a bit negligent in blogging as this is the last week of our summer program and I am just now writing my first blog. We’ve had a great summer program – five weeks of science experiments, art projects and general review. The first week, we combined science with art and used straws to see what objects the students could move by blowing through the straws. I then had them use the straws to try and blow tempura paint to look like fireworks. This proved difficult, so most used their fingers in the end to make their pictures. It gave us the chance to discuss why the paint wouldn’t move since it is light weight like the pencil and glue stick they were able to move.
The second week, we used vinegar to rust steel wool. Within a matter of 5-6 minutes, the steel wool would rusted; it also gave the students exposure to words like beaker and thermometer. The next week, we did a combined science/art project as we grew butterflies. The students kept a journal of the changes they noticed and then, when the butterflies hatched, they made a stained glass butterfly using tissue paper and construction paper. We were able to discuss the way you can see light through a real butterflies wings, similar to the stained glass butterfly they had made. The following week, we used gelatin, corn syrup and boiling water to make fake snot, noting that the snot from our noses is made of the same ingredients as the fake snot: sugars and protein. Finally, this week, we used dish soap, an empty bottle, water and glitter to make tornados (the glitter is used to more easily see the tornado). With this experiment, we were able to discuss vortexes.
There is one student’s plight, as I see it, which saddened my heart. A new student started this summer, she completed first grade last year, and is being sent on to second upon her mother’s wishes, but this student does not even recognize all the letters in the alphabet. Today, I was able to get confirmation of who her teacher will be next year and that she will indeed be in second grade. When I expressed my concerns to her mother about this fact, she said she wanted her daughter to flunk second grade instead because then she can put her in some sort of after school program. I am unaware of the program she is referring to, but I have doubts that by that time, she will be able to catch up – she is working at a kindergarten level as it is and now she will waste a year in second grade falling further and further behind. Thankfully, she will be attending LIST during the school year, but this is a child who needs the help of her parents to learn to read in addition to the help I can give her, and it does not appear she is getting that help. Unfortunately, there is only so much I can do in the two days a week I will be working with her. I am hoping to run into her teacher in the next couple of days to let her know about the child’s skills and to tell her I am recommending the mother have her put back in first grade. The student is very sweet and while she has trouble concentrating, I know she can learn to read; she just needs to be put in the right class in order for this to happen.
Anyway, we once again have a waiting list for our school year program, and we even had one for our summer program this year! I had 12 students attending the summer program, a new high, and new volunteers are joining us one the school year starts. It promises to be a great year!
