Breakfast Club Blog
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
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Playing in the Leaves
I cried after watching a commercial last night. No, it wasn’t a commercial with babies in tires, or one about a service member who makes it home in time for the holidays, or even a Hallmark movie special. It was a Toys’R’Us commercial. A group of kids were going on a field trip to the forest. While on the bus the guide tells the rather disinterested group that instead they are going to Toys’R’Us- the bus goes wild! Granted if I was being driven to jury duty and the ...Read More
Let’s Play!
A few years ago, I took my youngest son and his friend to Laser Quest. It’s the best laser tag place I know, full of two-story mazes covered in glow-in-the-dark paint. I had intended to sit and wait for the boys as they enjoyed their experience, but a quick phone call with Mom changed that plan. “Go play. Have fun! I would if I was there,” encouraged Mom. She knows I’m still a kid at heart, just like her. With her voice ringing in my ears, I played two of the greatest games of laser tag in my li...Read More
From Toddlers to Teens! Let Them Play!
If you are an 80’s baby, you probably played with a toy kitchen set. I did. When I was four years old, Santa brought me a kitchen set for Christmas. With a big grin on my face, I served my family plastic chicken drumsticks and fake pieces of yellow corn on the cob. My mom would pretend to chew the food and comment “Umm Tiana this is sooo good.” Unaware of my actions, I was emulating my mom and pretending to be a big girl. As I reminisce about this experience, I discover how critical pla...Read More
PLAY. Because Learning Should Be Fun!
It’s testing time again in public schools! Wooohooooo! Ah yes… Number 2 pencils and bubble-in responses, test taking anxiety and the all encompassing fear that even with all the impressive and meaningful gains your students have made through the year so far they might not do as well as you’d wish. Oh, and your evaluations and merit-based pay increases are on the line to boot! Oh standardized testing how I love you so! As educators we are bound to standards and assessments and ...Read More
In Serious Need of Fun
Life should be lived as play. Summarized from Plato’s Laws, should be the mantra of every adult providing out-of-school time care for children. Childhood passes swiftly, and even more so as our nation careens down the path of testing and accountability. With Americans living on average into their 70s and 80s, the time one can spend playing without guilt passes in a blink. The childhood experience is missing fun for fun’s sake. Free play has been replaced with purposeful skill buildin...Read More
After School Attractions
I woke up early this morning in Washington DC where I am attending a conference on School Counseling programs. We are working on a new program to incorporate school counseling into our after school programs in order to provide students the emotional support they need to succeed. Despite my desire to linger in bed, I know I must get up in order to have time to stand in line for 45 minutes at Market Lunch at the Eastern Market to enjoy Blue Bucks (blueberry pancakes), eggs and biscuits….yum!...Read More