Karen Eklund ~~~ "I feel privileged to have been asked to be a member of the educational team that is writing lesson plans for Rwandan teachers to use as they teach young children in the Urukundo School. I am a retired teacher of the gifted and talented and a former instructor at Penn State, where I taught a science methods course to first semester seniors in elementary education and worked with elementary and middle school teachers as they revised their science courses to be more inquiry-based.
Through the photos and stories Carol has shared in her blogs and conversation we've had about her experiences in Rwanda, my interest and desire to assist in enhancing the educational opportunities for the children and their teachers was piqued. The sweet smiles and the enthusiasm Carol says the children have for learning is all the encouragement the teacher in me needed to accept Carol's invitation to write lesson plans in science for the Rwandan teachers to use. Since magnets hold a "mysterious" attraction for all and Carol had many magnet themed materials, we decided to begin the science lessons with a unit on magnetism. I look forward to hearing how the children react to the experiences they have as they conduct investigations to demystify the concepts of magnetism."
Since Karen began working on this we have had two sets of magnets donated. Valtech donated a set of Magna-tiles and Guidecraft donated a set of Better Builders. Look for a future story about these sets and the companies that donated them once I have photos of them being used in Rwanda.
Also a story will be written about a fishing set with magnets that was MADE by Amy Frank's 1st Creative Kids Helping Kids event.
Karen Eklund
Magna-tiles
Better Builders
Magnet Fishing Game
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