Three Weeks in...

...and we are beginning to hit our stride.  The first meeting, on Wed 11/30, was a bit chaotic, though homework got completed and I think everyone had some fun.  (Kids went home with a bird feeder made from a coffee can.  My own coffe can feeder has yet to see a single bird--but I bet they'll have discovered it by the time we have snow on the ground!)  A better feeder is a cheap tube-type feeder (I bought one at Lowe's for about $6).  Keeping squirrels away can be a challenge--on the other hand, squirrels are facing a tough winter, since the acorn crop is small this year.

On our second meeting, Wed 12/7, kids learned to tie a square knot and two half-hitches, and they began to learn to identify some common birds.

This week, Wed 12/14, kids practiced birds and knots, learned to tie a taut-line hitch, and made a decimal ruler that they can use to measure rainfall, using any straight-sided, flat-bottomed container as a rain guage.

On the Wednesday to come (12/21) I hope to watch the International Space Station pass over New Bedford.  (Did you know you can see it easily if conditions are just right?)  Then we will learn moon phases, have a peek at Jupiter through a telescope, and add a constellation or two to our night sky observations--all this IF we have a clear sky.  If the sky is cloudy, we will begin learning about animals with a ball-toss game.

I am determined that the kids will have the opportunity to observe birds this winter.  Soon I plan to begin platform feeders with the kids.  A platform feeder is a large (about 189 inches on a side), flat platform with low edges that, usually, sits atop a post.  The kids will build and paint their own platform feeders, taking them home probably sometime in February.  I'm not sure how materials will be paid for; I may ask parents to chip in two or three dollars apiece.  Having a feeder is a bit of a commitment: the feeder needs room outdoors, and the bird food costs money.  Of course, you only put food out as often as you wish.

Finally, I am dreaming of Saturday field trips!  I would like to get the kids to Brooklawn Park for a couple of hours in January if we have good enough weather.  If there is snow, maybe we could share sleds and go sledding on a nearby hill!  Either way, I will post notice here, send emails to parents, and telephone any parents I do not have email addresses for.

Appreciating the Great Outdoors

Welcome to St. Andrew's After School!  We are an after-school program of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church that meets every Wednesday school day from 3:30 to 5:30pm.  Our mission and policies are described in the page (link) to your right.

My mission as program director is two-fold: first, to improve your child's achievement at school by supporting their homework accomplishment and helping parents continue that support from home; second, to connect your child to the world out-of-doors. 

We hope to be a resource for any difficulties your child has in completing homework and learning from it, and in helping to make homework a regular routine.  Your child should have all assignments written down, and checked by us or a parent.

As a child, I sometimes practically lived outdoors, having adventures real and imaginary, building forts, and just lying in the grass with a library book in the abandoned field and woods beside my house.  That land has long since been converted to house lots; I remember it fondly and mourn its passing.  Today I feel that most children spend little time outside.  Their lives are bounded by the walls of their homes, their schools, and perhaps a few stores and a mall.  Electonics claim a lot of their attention.  Kids are often tightly-scheduled, and parents are less willing to allow their children to roam as freely as I did.  Of course, most people in New Bedford don't grow up with such a wonderful place to play so close by.

I cannot change where you live, but I can try to give your child an appreciation of the outdoor world, and the adventures that are possible close to home.  After all, the "outdoor world" is enormously bigger and more real and varied than the indoor one!  Even an ordinary neighborhood has bird life, plants and squirrels, while interesting clouds drift by overhead.  And the moon, stars and planets visible on a clear night are a window into an incredibly vast universe.  Appreciating all this takes only knowledge and a little experience, and can often be had for free.