During a conversation with Narragansett Elementary School families, the question was asked: “What has been going well during the distance learning period?” The response from one family was a true success story.
“This situation has probably been one of the best things that’s ever happened to him,” said Alyssa West of her son, fourth grader Jeremy West. “He’s kept up with his schoolwork, but he has pretty much taken control of his own learning, completely unprompted/unguided by us; and he has been keeping himself busy this whole time.”
While West’s family has helped him to use power tools and the sewing machine safely, he has been completely self-directed in his learning.
Photo credit Alyssa WestJeremy West, a fourth grader at Narragansett Elementary School, learned to use a sewing machine to make pillows and masks, along with many other self-directed accomplishments during his distance learning time at home this year.
Following is a list of some of the things West accomplished during the last two months of remote distance learning at home: began a bird watching book; made pillows with a sewing machine; sewed doll-sized items for his sister; made a wallet and case for his needles; made terrariums and self-contained ecosystems; built a lean-to shelter; created a mini golf course; made his own tomato cage; built a toy pontoon; tried to make ink out of charred wood; learned how to siphon water through a hose; grew corn from a kernel in a wet paper towel in a cup; looked up instructions and sewed his own mask (he even figured out how to use an old t-shirt for an elastic); grew flowers and planted his own flower garden with flower boxes made out of pallets; learned how to set up a pool, filter system, and test with strips; bought a book about foraging and found (and tried, with supervision) blunt leaf dock; made “rock buddies” and wrote an accompanying document to send to his cousins and friend.
“What he’s been able to learn on his own is irreplaceable,” said West. “It’s like a switch flipped in his brain, and he just started engaging himself.”
The mission of the Gorham Schools is to prepare and inspire – West certainly exemplifies this.