Cold Springs Kindergarten wins National Grant

Cold Springs Kindergarten wins national grant

 Cold Springs Kindergarten has received a $500 mini-grant from the National Center for Family Literacy and Better World Books.

It is one of only 20 winners nationwide to receive the award, which will promote creative ideas for using Wonderopolis® with families. Wonderopolis.org was created by NCFL in 2010 to provide free, family-friendly content that is practical, easy to use and designed to engage children’s natural curiosity and transform it into a lifelong love of learning. It was one of only five family websites that TIME Magazine named the 50 best websites in 2011. 

The funding will be used to purchase an iPad and implement a Wonderopolis Literacy Center in the classroom.  Here is a brief snippet of what we hope to accomplish with our funds:

Daily learning with Wonderopolis takes place kindergarten via a classroom blog as a "morning meeting"/whole-group activity to stimulate literacy rich learning via communication, imagination, and movement. In this upcoming school year, Wonderopolis-learning will be extended to the students with the use of an iPad to blend literacy and technology learning at an active and engaging classroom learning center called the "iWonderoplis Center".

The iPad would be able to deliver learning through a variety of hands-on, audio, and visual activities that lends itself nicely to the naturally inquisitive theme of Wonderopolis. Content will include, but not be limited to, electronic books (e-books), instant access to rich video media, educational apps for supporting literacy, digital storytelling capabilities using video/imaging camera, as well as connecting with authentic outside audiences using the unique mobile video chat capability. The device will further allow us to explore the full learning (digital and hands-on) that Wonderopolis has to offer while providing the capability to remain current with 21st Century Learning trends.

Wonderopolis is a free resource for families and schools, so hundreds of educators across the country already are using it to generate excitement for learning in schools, libraries and homes across the country. But this mini-grant will help Cold Springs Kindergarten magnify the reach and impact of this 21^st century online learning tool. Other programs and communities also will learn from Cold Springs Kindergarten on how they can maximize the use of Wonderopolis.

"I would like to extend a rousing Cold Springs kindergarten THANK YOU to our friends at Wonderopolis, National Center for family literacy (NCFL), and Better World Books for helping us to bring more Wonder into our classroom".