The REAL Program, Inc is Launched!!

The REAL Program, Inc has started its summer program at the Congregation Ahabat Sholom. Children  come on Mondays and Wednesdays OR on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On our first day we were grateful for the nice weather as we could go outside and play four square and other interactive games. As our four square players were novices, we devised a question addition to the game in case the child could not stay on the square very long. This allowed us to build vocabulary or math skills into a simple game of four square. It worked beautifully!

The children drew or wrote on their I am, I can, I will page. They all were so engaged that they did not know it was 11:00 am and time to go! Oh, yes. They each chose a book to take home to keep. Our teaching team consisted of Mrs. Brown, Mr. Herb, Ms. Stacy, Ms. Jan, Meghan and Kelly. We had 14 children in attendance on our first REAL day!

Day One of The REAL Program on Tuesdays and Thursdays was delightful! We had 7 children ranging in ages 3-11; we had 6 cultures represented in the composite of our students, volunteers and interns. Phoebe and Daniel, our Montserrat College of Art leaders, read the story Me on the Map. After a brief discussion about maps and a look at the vast assortment of maps on the walls, the young students were given a chance to draw their own maps on 24" x 36" drawing paper. They drew. They drew. They drew! It was a quiet room of children and young adults each concentrating on their own work. Then, suddenly we had a community of laughter and conversation as Daniel, Montserrat art intern, said he was drawing a picture of a horse with feathers. One young student told him that was not possible! Another student said it was possible if a chicken ran over a horse. Someone else added that the chicken must be the size of a school bus and could you imagine the size of the egg it "pooped". Well, that was all that was needed to bring us all into a world of conversation. 

The children showed the maps they drew and they shared a bit more about themselves. We will frame these maps for our art show at Montserrat College of Art on Monday and Tuesday, August 12th and 13th. 
Our teaching team consisted of Ms. Stacy, Ms. Jan, Mr. Charlie, Mr. Daniel, Ms. Phoebe and Tiffani.