Engineering Mindset #4: Children Consider Criteria and Constraints that Require Tradeoffs If you’ve tried to solve a problem, or teach problem solving skills in a blue sky sort of format you are likely familiar with the expanse of the human imagination. Let’s consider something small like, you’ve got the day off. You just got up […]
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The Afterschool Matters Journal is a national, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to promoting professionalism, scholarship and consciousness in the field of afterschool education.
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Week 4 Over the week leading up to the holiday, I spent a significant amount of time trying to get my technophobic father onto a more reliable video chatting platform. We got him a new laptop, specifically for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas occasions. Our goal? Connect him to the family so we could all […]
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Engineering Mindset #1: Children Consider Problems in Context Considering and designing with the engineering design process In our last post about the properties and use of materials we talked about finding the right materials to find the best solution to any given challenge. The more you can understand the materials you’re working with, the smarter […]
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Winter is a time for children to enjoy their favorite holiday traditions – playing in the snow, celebrating around the table, sharing stories with loved ones. This holiday season join the American Red Cross as we travel to a winter wonderland where Mrs. Claus will lead us in a story time. So, gather your children, […]
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Week 3 In our Summer Enrichment program, I chose to read a chapter of L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz to the children each day. During Chapter 1, the group was very interested in the cyclone. Several children had never heard of such a thing and were full of questions. This led to an afternoon full […]
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Did you know that the week of December 7th is Computer Science Week?
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Week 1-Positive Outlook: Reflections
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Week 1 There is no denying that the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected afterschool in a variety of ways; from scheduling and numbers to safety protocols to activities and interactions. It is very easy to focus on the negative effects, as COVID has seemingly thrown a big old virus-y wrench into the gears of the well-oiled […]
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In these stressful times, people who work with kids and families are often the ones who are most likely to see mental health issues as they come up. The following are some strategies to help: Try to incorporate mental health time for your staff during these days in case people need time to process. Secondary […]
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