Club News

HEDP University Newsletter
As the Clubs wind down in our final weeks before winter vacation, it is important to realize the great knowledge and fun we have gained through them. Every club has different objectives and now is a great time to discuss which objectives were included in each one. We look forward to new clubs after the new year.

Kindergarten Clubs

Music Games:
In music games learning a few songs to sing and how to play games
with instruments and body movements were used in each club day. Each child was highly encouraged to show us a new movement during some of these games while the songs were sung. Use of instruments and passing them in a circle to the rhythm of music was an ongoing activity throughout the club and was enjoyed by students with their classmates.

Explorers Club: This club was a great resource for children to use to learn topics in science that they are interested in but do not always have time for in other aspects of their lives. Together, we explored some of the mysteries of the universe, the details of nature around us, and some chemical reactions in common household items. The children involved seemed to enjoy all of the mysteries that can be explored in the universe that they live in.

Board Games: This club was a great experience for students to learn about teamwork and another opportunity to learn some fun games that they can play with friends and family. Some of the games that were played in this club were Outburst Junior, Yahtzee, and Pictionary. Some of these games were played on teams, while others were played against a single classmate. This club was a great time to play a game with some friends while talking to them about their own interests.

Lego Club: Using legos, these students have designed (using their own imaginations) machines, and vehicles, which can do a variety of tasks and explain them to the group weekly. It has been an amazing experience in imagination, cooperation, and entertainment.




1st and 2nd Grade Clubs

Motion Club: In this club, students were encouraged to use their measuring, creation, designing, and fine motor skills to make a car. These cars are made of cardboard, plastic covers (for wheels), drinking straws and wooden dowel axels. Using their imaginations, children were given the instruction to make a working car to roll down a course. This club has engaged children and required them to spend their time diligently to finish the best product that they can.


Creation Club: “Your challenge is to build (insert a structure) with this mystery material.” This is what this club is all about. Each week children were given a mystery material and a design to build. Materials included egg cartons, wood pieces, paper, legos, cardboard and a variety of other materials. Structures included waterslides, towers, houses and a few others. Students worked in small groups and built using limited supplies to accomplish the task at hand. Designing skills and teamwork were the essential skills for this challenging club.

Recorder Club: If learning to play a recorder in 3rd grade was too long to wait for your child, this was an easy choice. While the Heath School does introduce students to recorders in music class, some students just can’t wait that long. Children in this club learned how to play a few songs on recorders at HEDP and had a great time trying to figure it out as well. This will do them a great service when they work on recorders at school in the coming years.

Lego Club: Using both bins full of legos and education lego sets, this group has built many lego creations with and without gears by following instructions and using their imaginations to become engineers and architects.




3rd-6th Grade Clubs

Science Club: Science is a wonderful thing. It holds our interest and amazes us daily. In this club, students studied chemical reactions and the many uses for them (from simple visual amazement to creating fun toys to play with). Oobleck, Gak and multicolor volcanic emulations were just a few of the experiments that were performed by the children involved.

Technology Club: In this club, students were given the opportunity to take on a task to learn on computers. The tasks that students took varied greatly. Some decided to created their own designed card games, others investigated the universe using computers, some made their own music, and a few decided to start the long process of computer programming. This club will most likely continue on in the new year.

Music Club: This club is for students who want to play an instrument in a small HEDP band. In this club children have been learning the standard 12-bar blues structure and are getting better at playing together every week.

K’nex Club: The children in this club have almost completed a ferris wheel by
modifying the design of the original one and making it bigger and better. Working together, we have redesigned the project and learned about trial and error as well as devotion to a single task. In Addition, construction of a roller coaster has started and perhaps this will be an ongoing project throughout the school year.



Kindly,

Jared