Summer Programs Take Off

By Tanjua Damon

Grownups may not know about dinosaurs, but kindergartners and first graders who took part in “Dinosaur Discoveries” can now share with their favorite adults and friends some amazing things about the creatures that once roamed the earth.

Learning a foreign language was another week-long class that students could take through the Newtown Continuing Education summer course selection. The two classes were held at Head O’ Meadow School from nine to noon the week of July 9-13.

Middle Gate second grade teacher Kirsten Strobel facilitated “Dinosaur Discoveries.” She taught the youngsters about what the creatures ate, how they lived, their characteristics and other habitat facts students wanted to know about.

Ms Strobel enjoys spending some time over the summer adding information to the young minds. But she also simply enjoys working with children.

“Mainly because when I started the program, there was something lacking for this age group,” Ms Strobel said. “Once I had started working with them it was a delight. I wanted to do things more informally. It’s not curriculum-driven, it’s interest-driven.”

Victoria Richardson brought foreign culture to students who decided to take on the challenge of learning some French. She hoped that it would spark some interest in other areas of the world for the young students in kindergarten through age seven.

“I think it’s important because this is not the center of the universe,” Ms Richardson said. “It expands the mind.”

The students learned vocabulary, colors, numbers, adjectives, time and animals. They were spoken to in French and stories were read in French that were familiar to the students. The students also went over countries where French was spoken.