Innovation, Inspiration, Impact

“Play is the highest form of research”

Albert Einstein

Hold the scissors!

Liz Ewing, Kindergarten Teacher at Clark Davidson Elementary, has had to get creative to teach her students some of the most basic lessons. She said that majority of students coming into kindergarten are not able to hold a pencil properly for as long as it is necessary to finish an assignment. They also cannot hold and use scissors. This isn’t due to academics, but rather fine motor skills. Because the students’ hands begin to hurt while writing and cutting, they lose focus on the lesson that she is presenting.

Liz has done a fantastic job researching different companies and finding the best manipulatives she could bring into her classroom to build up the muscles in those sweet little hands. What is so great about implementing these stations into her daily routine is that the students work together, take turns, and move from station to station, which means they must communicate. The stations keep the students’ attention all the while building the muscles they need to progress, without realizing they are.

Without the Goddard Education Foundation and the option of a grant,

Liz would not have been able to  get all that she needed to help every student at once.

Thank you to all the donors of the Goddard Education Foundation! 

First grade will be great with the foundation you helped to lay in kindergarten.