The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Pg. " - Wanda: Gimmick, WM, 0003mm? to. 1975 Parents help rtl'd the class room They teach art at St. Thomas . . . " . Parents in the classroom were a rare sight a few years ago but they're play- ing an increasingly im- portant role in education "We're in a pretty af- fluent area where most mothers are housewives. They look for an opportunity to get involved and are eager to come and help with programs. Last year we had a mother in every room for the elective pro- gram," said Violet Nyitrai, the enthusiastic and ac- tive principal of the school. Many schools in Waterloo are drawing on the talents and resources of parents in their neighbourhoods to enrich and supplement the regular school curriculum. One school that uses par- ents regularly for field trips, extra art programs and craft sessions is St. Thomas Aquinas Separate School in Lincoln Village. Situated in a well-to-do. middle class neighbour- hood, St. Thomas has a dedicated group of volun- teers who chauffeur stu- dents to skating lessons, teach extra-curricular craft classes, chaperone field trips and participate in elective programs. During the elective pro- gram last year, parents taught quilting, French, drama. cooking, stamp col- lecting, euchre. cribbage. golf. drama and Orff in- struments. Katherine Snyder. parent volunteer at Harold Wagner Public School. assists Grade 1 student Petra Urbanke. 6, in the school's experimental cooking pro- gram. Not only parents volun- by Mary Stupor! teered their services for the program. The school caretaker taught sculpting with plaster of paris. Miss Nyitrai's father instructing the students in gardening and the parish priest taught chess. The elective program also exposes the students to new ideas and new people. Although many of the activities were fun-orient- ed, they were also edu- cational. Some craft items made during the elective pro- gram were sold during the school's f u n d-raising carnival for world relief. Thirty parents pitched in to run the fish pond. bake tables and games. "Cribbage is good for math. We were teaching math and the students didn't know it," said Miss Nyitrai. Cooking also taught measurements and adding. Miss Nyitrai plans to run the elective program again this year because it was so popular with parents and students. "The kids love it. They're very proud when they see their parents in the class. It's a nice feeling for them because they know their parents care." she said. “It gives them a chance to socialize and build up a rapport with another adult besides the teacher." Volunteers help with other programs throughout the year. One parent runs a craft class every Wed- nesday night after school Dianne Bauer. a parent votuiiteer at St. Thomas Separate School in Waterloo, teaches an after school craft class for interested students. Here she shows two students how to make a Christmas decoration with old greeting cards. for students who are in- l k e k at terested in art. Another ls parent planned an entire . . . an coo mg s g art program for a grade . three class in conjunction t II l d W with the teacher. She also a aro agner Sc oo comes every week to help b S teach thecourse. y andy Haze“ - ..__L;__ L___ __A___;-- Helen Krtenke, nrimarv low a recipe chart made up "The basic idea is that there is a lot to be Ieamed from the cooking experi- ence," says Eleanor Find- lay. a Grade 1 and 2 teach- er. "They learn sharing skills and have social inter- action." by Sandy Haze" Teaching home economics in school may not just be limited to senior grades in the future. For the past two months. an experimen- tal cooking program has been introduced to three primary grades at Harold Wagner Public School, and the reactions have proven to be favorable. Three parents volunteer one hour of their time each week to teaching primary children the basic skills of cooking simple dishes. Pan- cakes, Hallowe'en cookies, jello, steamed apples and hot dogs are among the foods made by the children during the project. Cooking in class also helps children learn and under- stand words such as mixing. stirring. dissolving and chilling. The program, which includes a Grade l, a Grade I and 2 and a Grade 2 and 3 classes, assists children in using the senses of smell- ing, touching and tasting which otherwise could not be done in class Mrs. Findlay says the as- pect of social interaction is most valuable at the pri- mary grade level, "The child who hardly ever says anything in class just natur- ally starts talking with oth- ers during the cooking class. as he would in normal con- versation '. "Generally the children who make the food eat it themselves," but they enjoy sharing with others. espe- cnally the principal," says Mrs. Findlay Helen Kdepke, primary consultant for the Water- loo County Board of Edu- cation, introduced the idea to the school, and suggest- ed that the program be done on a trial basis from Octo- ber to December. After dis- cussing the philosophy of the project with the teachers, parent volunteers were brought in to the school to see Mrs. Keopke demon- strate the program. Mrs. Keopke took the first lesson with each separate class while the three par- ents, Katherine Snyder, Rita Grant and Mrs. Mac- Donald watched. The pur- pose was to show them the development of skills from Grade I to Grade 3 and to demonstrate the different levels of expectations, "They (volunteers) were really amazed at the dif- ferent responses of the chil- dren," says Mrs. Findlay. "Children of Grade I and 2 are more involved with the type of ingredients used in making something. while Grade 3 students would dis- cuss the economics of a par- ticular project, such as the price." All foods made do not have to be baked in the oven, but sometimes they are chilled overnight in the staff room fridge. Working with groups of five or sia children each week. the volunteers mr low a recipe chart made up by the teachers. The teach- ers plan whatever foods they want made, purchase the ingredients and write out on bristolhoard steps to be followed in the recipe. Students take turns par- taking in each step of what- ever is being made by either measuring, adding or mix- ing the ingredients. As the volunteers are working with the children at the back of the classroom, teachers use the hour to take the rest of the class on short walks around the school, or plan game activities so they will not be distracted. One of the volunteers, Mrs, Snyder of Margaret Street agrees. “I think the children seem to be en- joying it. It's a very spe- cial time for them. Obvious- ly they look forward to the afternoon and having their tum." to eniov it though." says Mrs. Findlay. “I think it's working extremely well," says Mrs, Grant, of Vermont Street, another volunteer. "l per- sonally would like to see it be carried through as part of the curriculum. Perhaps they could start with cook- ing and incorporate it with shopping for consumer edu- cation in the higher grades "We try to make it just like another learning ex- perience for them. We try to play it down as being the highlight of the week, The children really seem The effectiveness of the program is being studied by the teachers.