Facilitator Guides and Activity Cards

The Leaps and bounds “World as a Classroom Workshop Series” program materials were developed by the Office of Youth Preparation in partnership with the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education’s (COE) Division of Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood Education program area in collaboration with New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development (NDI). Sample Activities are available to parents and school districts.

The major theme of the Workshop S eries is learning around the house and in a familiar environment. The content of the workshops includes activities that can be conducted by all family members and that reflect the needs, interests, and cultural beliefs of families. The program focuses on activities that can be done at home and in the environment at relatively no cost to the family. Because this program focuses on the readiness skills of pre-kindergarteners, activities in each area of the house focus on children between 3 and 5 years of age. However, these activities can be applied to children of various backgrounds and age groups.

Because workshops focus on activities that can be done at home or in the familiar environment, materials include ordinary items such as measuring tapes, rulers, magnetic letters, cookie sheets, pots and pans, Tupperware, cups, cooking utensils, scissors, crayons, markers, pens, paper, toothbrushes, Ziploc containers and bags, tubs, measuring spoons, stacking bowls, newspapers, empty cereal boxes, clipboards, flashlights, magnifying glasses, bath toys, a CD player and music, streamers, and lots and lots of books. The total cost of workshop materials is under $1000.00.

Furthermore, because the “World as a Classroom Workshop Series” is flexible and is tailored around the needs of the population it presently serves, the costs of the program vary from school to school and community center to community center. Sites are able to choose which materials to purchase and this can decrease the total overall cost of the program materials. In addition, many schools have funding set aside to pay for early childhood programs such as this. Sites may also choose to hold auctions or may receive other funding (from private corporations such as Wal-Mart or Target) that can help pay for some of the workshop costs.

Below are links to sample activity cards: