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Canfield elementary students get a head start
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Jeannie Bloomster, Success by Six classroom aide, dished out the final product to her group of students, showing them how all the ingredients they used and all their hard work combined to make ice cream.
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Two students in the Success by Six program, enjoyed the fruits of their labor in the form of homemade ice cream.
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The children took turns shaking the play and freeze ice cream ball, all the while counting how many times they shook it.
By ABBY SLANKER
Fifteen children entering kindergarten in the Canfield Local School District recently took advantage of the opportunity to participate in the Success by Six program, which was funded by a grant from the United Way.
The children, who will attend C.H. Campbell Elementary School or Hilltop Elementary School, met at Hilltop Elementary from 8 to noon Monday through Thursday from July 12 through Aug. 5.
Hilltop Elementary School kindergarten teacher Lisa Zetts was lead teacher of the program and Jeannie Bloomster, intervention reading tutor, was the classroom aide.
The program is voluntary and is designed to give a jump-start primarily to students who may not have had a preschool experience. This is the first year the program has been offered and is a positive learning experience and a transition for students entering kindergarten in the fall.
The focus of the program is pre-reading and pre-math skills, and the children were also shown, through different activities, that learning is fun.
“The program is run like a summer camp with a relaxed atmosphere. We want the children to know that learning is fun and we truly believe children learn through play,” said Cathy Mowry, Hilltop Elementary School principal.
As a fun learning experience, the children made ice cream from scratch. Julie Foutty, Hilltop Elementary kindergarten teacher, volunteered her recipe for vanilla ice cream using the play and freeze ice cream ball.
The class was split into four groups with Zetts, Bloomster, Foutty and Mowry helping each group. After the ingredients were measured, using pre-math skills, the groups went outside to roll their play and freeze ice cream balls and watch the ice cream form. The children rolled the balls to each other and took turns shaking it up and jumping, all the while using their counting skills by counting how many rolls, jumps and shakes were executed.
After all their hard work, the ice cream was ready and children went inside to enjoy it and were even able to add toppings to their homemade ice cream. Many thought it was so good they just ate it plain and were clearly proud of their accomplishment.
Success by Six also had a parent component. At the beginning of class each day, the children participated in classroom activities with their parents.
The children were even able to experience their first school bus ride. While the program was held at Hilltop Elementary School, the children participating were from both elementary schools, so the students rode the bus to C.H. Campbell Elementary School to meet Kent Polen, C.H. Campbell principal.