Sixth-grade students from Philadelphia have been visiting museums, zoos, and the United Nations to learn about global issues.
Some 1,200 students from 34 schools in the Philadelphia school district participate each year in the Education in World Affairs Elementary School Program sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Its aim is to develop students’ “appreciation for peoples and cultures around the world,” according to Ann Marie O’Reilly, elementary-school liaison teacher for the council.
“Sixth graders are capable of learning about global issues,” Ms. O’Reilly said. “It’s a good time to introduce them to other cultures.”
The $34,000 program, which is funded by Chapter 1 funds, contains four units: food, shelter, holidays and festivals, and items indigenous to various regions of the world.
As part of the program, the students have visited the Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, the American Swedish Historical Museum, and the Philadelphia Zoo, where they learned about animals from around the world, Ms. O’Reilly said.
The program ends with an international festival at each school and a unit test to determine the students’ understanding of the global issues.
For more information, write to Ann Marie O’Reilly, World Affairs Council, John Wanamaker Store, 3rd-floor gallery, 13th and Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.
The University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Department of Education are working together to design a resource guide for parents of developmentally disabled children. The handbook, which is being prepared jointly by parents and teachers, will list services available to parents.
The publication will be distributed free of charge through local health and human-services offices and parent organizations.
A companion calendar, also produced by the university and the state education agency, offers daily suggestions of simple developmental tasks parents can perform with their children.
For more information, write to Bob Sterrett at the University of Kentucky, Department of Special Education, Lexington, Ky. 40506-0047.
Through their participation in the State University College at Oneonta’s Saturday Seminar Program, gifted students from 33 rural New York schools are learning about organic chemistry, prison conditions, and conversational French.
The program, offered to students in grades 3 through 12, is designed to provide academic enrichment beyond that available in their regular classes.
The cost of attending the seminars--$45 for each 10-session term--is often paid by local school districts. The students attend the classes on Oneonta’s campus.
For more information, write to Robert M. Porter, Coordinator, Saturday Seminar Programs, State University College, Oneonta, N.Y. 13820.--ab
