I’m excited to introduce to you “Giving Tree After Care”. Our mission is to encourage growth. The growth of your child’s mind, body, and friendships.Picture Referencehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ID5SbhWHTLU/TaZb932FNSI/AAAAAAAAAK4/iSk0av-XACo/s1600/GrowingPlant.jpg
Our children are separated into orchards as follows:Seeds Ages (0 – 2) Sprouts Ages (3 – 7)Saplings Ages (8 – 10) Timbers Ages (11 – 13) Pioneers Ages (14 – 18)Effectively grouping students is a challenge. We decided that we would begin by grouping students by age. Each group reflects a different stage of development.Seeds Ages (0 – 2) InfancySprouts Ages (3 – 7) Early ChildhoodSaplings Ages (8 – 10) Middle ChildhoodTimbers Ages (11 – 13) Middle Childhood/AdolescencePioneers Ages (14 – 18) AdolescenceAge is a fairly accurate estimation of when student’s will be moving from one stage to the next. However, we understand that there will be cases when a particular student may not fit in their age group and we will suggest that they join either the group that is older or younger so that we can better meet their growth needs.Another aspect of grouping revolves around enrollment numbers. As the enrollment numbers rise we are better able to break groups into appropriate stages. However if the amount of students enrolled remains low it is possible that groups may be combined. We will be taking the differing levels of development into consideration and will position students in the best situation to grow. For example, if a student is combined into a lower group we will try to assign them more leadership duties such as being a teacher’s helper or assisting the younger children with their tasks.Picture Reference http://www.fulfilleddestiny-s3.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/blossoming-.jpg
Any one with a green thumb knows that a tree needs three things to grow; water, sunshine, air. Without these important inputs a tree will not survive. If the water or air is unclean the tree won’t grow healthy parts.We feel the same way about our students. In the same way trees need water, our students need healthy well balanced meals and snacks to give them energy to grow. Trees need to absorb the rays of the sunshine, without this sunshine all the water in the world would go to waste. We believe our children’s sunshine comes in the form of a healthy social life of interacting and having fun with the other children. As the breeze shakes dead leaves from branches causing trees to dance in the wind we believe that students need to get out and exercise in the fresh air.Picture Referenceshttp://www.scenicreflections.com/files/The_water_tree_Wallpaper_hq7zr.jpghttp://xldssg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pVcOjuFjqoj5Eq9E5OCppHeAb58F-FtViDf_HPLHjqFVML07suYTPYOajTbpd1Iy6U11LI62VW5z-9P699407Yw/20090920_14_komorebi_w1600.jpghttp://www.spokanecleanair.org/photos/Seasonal/daisy%20blue%20sky.jpg
The reason that we make sure that our students receive all of the best inputs is so that they are able to grow strong healthy parts.Each year a trees leaves grow, give shade, make music in the breeze, scrape against the sky, artistically change the color of the landscape, fly through the air landing on the ground to be mixed with other leaves helping other trees grow next season. We believe our children’s leaves are their ideas. Ideas grow, give understanding, make our spirits sing, bring us to amazing heights, unleash our creativity, change our society’s fabric, and when we share them with each other they enable others to grow.A tree is only as strong as its roots. Our students roots are found in their relationships. Helping students build healthy relationships is a priority for our program, growing a beautiful healthy tree does no good if it blows over in the first storm it encounters.Healthy branches of a tree keep the leaves from getting suffocated from one another but are not so rigid that they snap under the pressure of a storm. We believe that encouraging the development of strong morals allows for students to have the ability to make sound decisions in windy circumstances.Picture Referenceshttp://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/11000/velka/green-maple-leaves-69771288640340YKIT.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bSB353YdZu8/TAo03vZuujI/AAAAAAAAAGo/r9bSj5NX07A/s1600/3D_Roots.jpghttp://myartinthebox.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/green-branches.jpg
During middle school, students begin to physically mature and mentally become more self conscious. Team building is ideal for helping students to “work together, lower embarrassments and self consciousness, break down barriers between groups and teach the importance of leadership and teamwork in society.” It is a fun way to enhance growth, while addressing physical, cognitive, language, social and emotional development. We call this process “Growing Roots for a Rainy Day”.Some activities we use to irrigate the soil are:Play BallGroups of eight rotate balls in a circle without dropping or hitting each otherMath ExperimentsGroups, without speaking, form the longest object from random material given to themGroup PoetryGroups write their own poems, after a community paper rotates around roomBuilding BlocksIn pairs, students construct lego designs. One person has a picture of a design, and the other student has the building materials. The student with the picture cannot touch the legos, and vice versa. Working together the pair must construct the image and present it to the class. Team Building Games for Middle School | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6513453_team-building-games-middle-school.html#ixzz1Zy288oHuPicture Referenceshttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bSB353YdZu8/TAo03vZuujI/AAAAAAAAAGo/r9bSj5NX07A/s1600/3D_Roots.jpg
On behalf of Giving Tree After School we would like to thank you for the privilege of meeting you and sharing time together. We feel that we are lucky to be able to work with the future of our country and are excited to see what inspiring ideas will be created. We look forward to getting to know your child and helping them reach for the skies. We remind you Listen.Learn.Love.Grow. Video Referencehttp://vimeo.com/16255143