We showed up at our daughter’s Meet The Teacher day and were greeted with a nine-part treasure hunt. It was our daughter’s job to navigate nine classroom activities before she left. They included:
- Finding her cubby
- Having her parents volunteer for activities
- Placing her supplies in the class storeroom
- Spotting and attempting to name the class’s pet fish
- Having her parents enter their info in a computer survey
- Finding her desk
- Saying hello to the teacher and the teacher’s aide
- Taking a picture with some available props
- Playing with the classroom toys
By the end of the sequence, we had spent half an hour in the classroom, and Cat’s jitters were gone. The teacher actually took our daughter to meet another classmate, a girl who set up shop at her desk and hadn’t moved. After the intros, the two went to the toy section and played together for another ten minutes.
This summer, I discovered how well scavenger hunts worked for elementary school kids. They loved figuring out the riddles and going and seeking the hidden objects I spread around the church social hall. The activity asked the kids to use their minds and bodies.
Our daughter’s teacher knew that a lecture wouldn’t work, so she set our daughter (and her classmates) on knowledge journey. I was taking notes.
Learning Together 