What is Explorations?
Explorations is a fun learning experience for kids. It is a time where parents and volunteers get to share their talents, skills, knowledge, and hobbies with a small group of children.
Explorations occurs 5 times during the school year. Parents have the opportunity to teach two consecutive 40 minute sessions with approximately 6 children in each session (max. of 8 in each session). Each parent/family is expected to teach ONE EXPLORATION PER CHILD IN THE PROGRAM EACH YEAR. It's easy to fit Explorations into your schedule-simply choose a day that you're already volunteering in the classroom.
If you purchase items for your Exploration, reimbursement may be available. Lighthouse will reimburse you up to $12 per Exploration when you submit your form and reciept to the Explorations Coordinator. Reimbursement forms are available on the forms page.
Explorations Dates 2011/2012
| Paperwork Due to Teacher/PC | Date of Explorations |
|
Wednesday, October 5 Thursday, December 1 Friday, January 20 Tuesday, April 10 Friday May 25 – (ER Day) |
Wednesday, October 19th Thursday , December 15 Friday, February 3 Tuesday, April 24 Monday, June 11 |
The typical schedule for Explorations day will be:
1st Session
| 1:20pm: | Sign-in at the Cafeteria (You will be given a room assignment and list of kids.) |
| 1:30pm: | Assigned room set-up (Please be respectful of not interrupting a class in session.) |
| 1:35 – 1:40pm: | Pick-up students |
| 1:40pm: | 1st Session begins |
2nd Session
| 2:20pm: | Bring students from 1st session back to their classroom. |
| 2:25 – 2:30pm: | Pick up new students. |
| 2:30pm: | 2nd Session begins. |
| 3:10pm: | Bring students from 2nd session back to classroom. |
Some Exploration Ideas:
Subjects need to have an academic "tie in" and require teacher approval two weeks before Explorations day. Some suggested ideas are: first aid, geography games, cooking, paper airplanes, fleece pillows, volcanoes, rocket science, Home Depot bldg. projects, handmade cards, sign language, music games, I Spy bottles, ballet, recycled art, puppets, astronomy, sports, science experiments, origami, mexican culture, foreign language, quilting, secret codes, strategy games, magnets, birds, etc.
FAQ:
What if I’ve never done an Explorations and have no clue what to do?
It is recommended that you partner up with a “veteran parent/volunteer” and shadow them on their Explorations. This will give you a good idea how to run your Explorations.
What happens when I don’t have enough to talk about during my Explorations?
We recommended you do a “dry run” of your Explorations and see if you meet the 40 min. requirement. Please prepare an extra handout, coloring page or an extra tie-in, if you feel you will fall short on time. The students are not allowed to rejoin their class until AFTER your session is over.
