I love to write about promoting learning and exercise for children. Have you heard about The Walking Classroom, an award-winning national program initiated by a teacher and that is now sponsored by a nonprofit organization? If you haven’t, let me tell you about this amazing program.
It was developed by Laura Fenn, M.S. Ed, who was a 5th grade teacher. She observed that children in her classroom who were more active performed better academically. She put together a program called Walk, Listen and Learn, and saw her students’ academic performances improve by the end of the year. Before long, she expanded her program to different grade levels and promoted it nationwide.
According to its website www.thewalkingclassroom.org, the program is for students in grades 3 to 8. They take short walks of up to 20 minutes with walk-kit devices. On the devices are up to 167 podcasts, each beginning with a brief message on a health conscious topic and then subjects on English language, arts, social science, and much more. There is even a series of podcasts for STEM. All the podcasts meet nationally-approved standards.
Teachers are provided with lesson plans and quizzes. For students who need special attention, The Walking Classroom provides teachers with instructions for children who have ADHD, dyslexia, and autism.
Its website is filled with information about the program as well as how to participate.Please take a few minutes and look at what it has to offer.Many students will benefit from this type of teaching tool and it would be worthwhile to investigate all that this program has to offer.