Another School Year is Ending, BUT Summer is Just Beginning

The book bags are being dropped by the door.
The good clothes, from the beginning of the year are now showing their wear. Revealing a child's growth, and a little lacklustre in style.
The smiles and giggles have left the school, hallways are silent and stoic. Sumer has arrived!

I love summers at Love To Grow On. (www.lovetogrowon.com).
Our center is filled with the sounds and creativity of our School Age students. They embrace life head on.   They bring joy, maturity and creativity to our center.
I love watching our School Age teachers, direct and guide the students energy, inspire the learning from the school year to continue and teach life skills to each child at their own pace.

Mr. John is an amazing, male role model.
He plays and provides boundaries, freely with his class. He values the uniqueness of each child. He discovers who each child is and helps them, and their parents see their potential.  I never get tired of watching him and his class.
I love watching my students in awe of the School Age class.  They want to be just like them. They develp their play, and learning as they observe the School Age kids. These older students become their role models and help my class develop their dreams for the future.
So school may be out, but so much learning is just beginning. Don't use the summer to relax and do very little. Embrace the potential and possibilities right in front of you. Keep a spark of learning always simmering, Find ways to build what the students have already learned and mastered, but do it in fun and creative ways.
Mr. John keeps, Ms. Renee's tradition of Nature City alive.

Students build homes and businesses,  develop their own currency,  elect government officials and instill a law enforcement agency. So many life skills and communication skills develop during this summer adventure that started over 10 years, ago by a single class who saw so much more than trees beside the school.
Their legacy lives on in each class that follows.
Language, writing, math, science, and social studies come alive. They are learned through play, not textbooks and sitting, listening to a teacher. They are experienced and put into practice.
I wonder what these children will grow up to be. 
How will they impact our government and education system? What ways will they change the world?

Check out these photos of Nature City from Years Past
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http://www.presspubs.com/quad/news/article_4bda6306-09be-11e3-b9c0-0019bb2963f4.html

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