On Wednesday, Garrett and I had the chance to visit the Walden K-5 Club site, hosted at the Walden School of Liberal Arts in north Provo. The afternoon started with a healthy snack, grapes and mixed nuts, and some free time for the kids to play. This is valuable since they’ve just finished a day of school and like the chance to use some of their abundant energy.
This was an especially fun day to visit the site because Wednesday is activity day. Each day of the week has a different focus, at the Walden K-5 Club. Wednesday is focused on healthy lifestyles and gives kids the chance to exercise and learn good sportsmanship and teamwork.
Club members are divided into age groups, K-2nd grade and 3rd-5th grades. This allows a better ratio of club members to staff, and allows more age-appropriate activities.
The staff members at the Walden K-5 Club feel that it is very important for students to voice their opinions and feel heard, having a part in some decisions regarding Club activities, they were presented with options of activities they could do, and given the chance to add their ideas to the list. After the ideas and opinions were gathered, students had the chance to vote on which two activities they wanted to do that day.
The vote was reached. They would play TV tag, followed by a game of sharks and minnows. Club members had a great time chasing around the field, trying to think of the name of a tv show or movie before they got tagged. After a while, they switched to playing sharks and minnows, and laughed as they scurried from one end of the field to the other, shrieking and screaming as they ran as fast as they could from the kids who were “sharks.” Eventually, every round, the sharks caught all the minnows, and then the game would start again. These club members definitely got some good exercise in!
After activity time, the club members came back to the classroom for homework time. Each student knows what homework they have to work on and are given the chance to choose whatever of that they want to do there where teachers are around to help. If students don’t have homework, they have the chance to read as well.
This club provides a great program for students to develop in several aspects, not just academically, but it helps them reach great futures as well-rounded and healthy individuals. What a great place for kids to learn and grow!