School might be out for summer, but learning is still in session for approximately 200 children enrolled in the School-Age Program at Erie Neighborhood House.<\/p>\n
Walk into Templeton Hall, the space the older students call home at Erie House\u2019s main West Town site, following lunch and you won\u2019t find kids running around and making lots of noise. Instead, you\u2019ll see them quietly sitting in small clusters at tables or on floor pillows, reading books or writing in journals.<\/p>\n
Granted, this tranquility doesn\u2019t last the whole day long\u2014if it did, you might be worried, and justifiably so\u2014but it is a deliberate pause from the summer frenzy to reinforce language and literacy concepts.<\/p>\n
A strong team of Erie House School-Age educators also engage the students in math and science activities, all of which are aimed at helping with learning retention over the summer months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the younger kids it\u2019s an easier sell because they\u2019re excited to do anything,\u201d says Aracelis Perez, assistant director of the School-Age Program. \u201cWith the older kids we kind of have to prove ourselves to them. But the staff do present the lessons in a way that doesn\u2019t feel like they\u2019re in school or that they\u2019re doing science or math from a textbook. Once they\u2019re in it, there\u2019s no complaining.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perez explains that a primary way to engage kids is to offer a variety of clubs that reinforce educational concepts while appealing to their interests and giving them opportunities to grow.<\/p>\n
One of this summer\u2019s clubs, for example, embarks upon the challenge of solving a Rubix cube. Another will connect human biology with the arts.<\/p>\n
Still another club is choreographing several dances to showcase in front of classmates and peers later this summer. \u201cI feel nervous,\u201d one of the girls, Leslie, says when asked how she felt about the fast-approaching performance. But the 10-year-old\u2019s nervous energy is clearly mixed with excitement.<\/p>\n
Smiling, she adds, \u201cWe have so much fun!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s about 10 of us in the club,\u201d explains Natalie, age 12. Like Leslie, she is a student at James Otis Elementary School, situated just a short walk from Erie House in Chicago\u2019s West Town neighborhood.<\/p>\n
She explains that the club formed toward the end of the school year, and at first had attempted to pull together a dance to the Reggaeton classic\u00a0Gasolina<\/em>. \u201cThat was too fast. We chose a song by Cardi B because that was easier for us to practice.\u201d<\/p>\n During the summer months the School-Age Program, which just last year was awarded the Illinois ExceleRate Gold Circle of Quality, runs on a full-day schedule from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. Two meals are served family-style and the children have ample opportunities to move and play.<\/p>\n When they\u2019re not engaged in a club meeting, students choose from a variety of activities available, including swimming at the local Chicago Park District pool, playing foosball and creating art projects.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to go on the computers,\u201d says Brandon, a 9-year-old at Pritzker Elementary, who like most kids his age enjoys a little screen time.<\/p>\n In addition to clubs and choice time, students also enjoy field trips on Wednesdays and Fridays to various sites around the city and suburbs. This year\u2019s itinerary features destinations such as the forest preserve, the beach, Pickwick Theatre (The Incredibles 2<\/em> is showing) and Gizmo\u2019s Fun Factory.<\/p>\n And, of course, there is the much anticipated camping trip that will take students for 3 nights and 4 days to a rustic camp in rural Indiana.<\/p>\n \u201cCamp is the highlight of the summer,\u201d says Perez. \u201cIt\u2019s in late August, so throughout the summer the kids know it\u2019s coming up.\u201d At camp Perez and her colleagues in the School-Age Program plan a variety of activities and wear more than a few hats as they provide round-the-clock supervision to more than 100 children. \u201cFor those four days we become mom, dad, friend, mentor\u2026tooth fairy, even,\u201d says Perez.<\/p>\n She proceeds to tell a story about last year\u2019s camp experience in which a child lost a tooth, forcing staff to scrounge up change and wait until all of the kids in her cabin were asleep to tiptoe in so they could swap out the tooth beneath her pillow. \u201cShe still believed in the tooth fairy, and we weren\u2019t going to ruin it for her.\u201d<\/p>\n The foundation for those various roles staff play in the lives of kids in the program is built throughout the year at Erie House, and the summer schedule helps shore up that foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the school year it\u2019s more of a routine\u2014the kids come after school, they eat their snack, they do homework, and we only have them for 2 to 3 hours a day. We don\u2019t get to connect with them as much as we would want,\u201d explains Perez. \u201cIn the summer, we have them all day. It\u2019s more of a relaxed environment. The staff are able to talk to the kids, sit down and have a conversation with them about the day or what they\u2019re going to do on the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n This change of pace appeals to Yesenia, a fourth grader at Talcott Elementary. \u201cOooh, that\u2019s a hard one!\u201d the 9-year-old says in response to a question about her favorite thing about the summer program. \u201cI like so many things.\u201d<\/p>\n She starts by listing off the perks, from field trips to clubs she has participated in (for the record, cooking club is her favorite: \u201cEvery time we think something is disgusting it turns out to be good\u201d) to time spent on the computers. After thinking a bit longer she sums it up by saying, \u201cI\u2019m so<\/em> bored at home, but every single day at Erie House I get to play with my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning and <\/em>having fun with friends\u2014sounds like the perfect the summer plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" School might be out for summer, but learning is still in session for approximately 200 children enrolled in the School-Age Program at Erie Neighborhood House. Walk into Templeton Hall, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":1896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-1894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-school-age"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\u201cOooh, that\u2019s a hard one!\u201d 9-year-old Yesenia says in response to a question about her favorite thing about the summer program. \u201cI like so many things.\u201d<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n