When the kids are not playing Minecraft, they might use a tablet to move the app-enabled robotic Sphero ball through the room or step and hop on a virtual play area thats projected onto the floor by the Beam system. Students can also participate in camps throughout the summer to stave off brain drain, Simon says. The program is designed for students ages 8-14 or, as Simon calls them, Widgetarians." Parents pay a flat fee to drop their kids off $20 for an afternoon, $40 for a non-school day. and non-school days from 7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. to accommodate homeschoolers as well as working parents, and is also open Saturdays from noon-4 p.m. Sequoia Parkway #100, just off Carman Drive. The Portland facility is located at 15495 S.W. Simon established the Southwest Portland program in December and has made the two-hour drive from Eugene nearly every day since. ∾verything that we have is through the lens of technology, but its also active and creative. Were very serious about learning, but we want it to be fun and engaging, says Simon. She and Ashland, both moms themselves, were frustrated by the babysitting model of many after-school offerings and set out to create an enrichment program with the tagline: Holistic, High Energy, High Tech. Thats just one of many success stories Simon has heard in the three years since she and Sydney Ashland founded Fidgets2Widgets in Eugene. ∺s soon as I started embracing the technology side of her learning, she started reading well. On top of that, she says King has become more engaged at school, too. She doesnt even ask (to play Minecraft) anymore, Murdoch says.
Now when she gets home, King usually prefers to go outside or spend time with her mom, rather than play games on the iPad.
In the program, King spends part of her afternoon playing the game with other students her age and also takes exercise breaks, participates in an interactive lesson from co-founder Pam Simon and does her homework.
That was until Murdoch heard about Fidgets2Widgets an after-school program located just off I-5 in Tigard that not only embraces Minecraft, but also hails its benefits as one of many tools to encourage fun, high-tech learning.
Sphero edu simon says tv#
Fidgets2Widgets' new after-school program incorporates Minecraft and exercise into creative learningĮdie King used to count down the minutes until she could play Minecraft each day, says her mom, Sally Murdoch.Īnd as a mom who rarely so much as turns on the TV at home, Murdoch says she was frightened by the games hold on her daughter, a third-grader at Bridlemile Elementary School in Southwest Portland.
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