January 4, 2016
Innovative Educational
Programs for the
Homeschooling Community
January 4, 2016
DEAR VIVA! FAMILIES,
Welcome back! We hope you and your family had
a wonderful winter break and holiday season and
are excited to start a 2016 full of learning and
growth.
Viva! Learning Space is officially 4 months
old! Together we have accomplished so much over
the past few months. We’ve brought on fabulous
teachers and teaching assistants, implemented
engaging enrichment classes in the afternoon,
and taken many wonderful field trips. Parents and
staff organized magical community events
including the Mask Festival, a Mexico Linda
Quermes, and Peace and Human Rights Night.
www.vivalearningspace.org
In December, a formal Co-op program was launched, its first Board of
Directors was seated, and the Co-op board implemented its first policies for
work requirements for families in the program.
The newly formed Co-op Board is now hard at work refining the staffing and
enrichment class schedules for the Winter term; and the program’s teachers
and TAs are busily developing their lesson plans and curriculum map for the
coming term. It is sure to be an exciting Winter at the Co-op!
We are beginning the New Year with some additional wonderful news
to report! Established to support innovative learning forInteger
homeschoolers
metus.and
independent learners, Viva! Learning Space is excited to announce the startup of its second full-time educational program, The Lab. The Lab is a
replication of the Khan Lab School, an educational model developed by
Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy and someone who is widely
regarded as one of the most innovative thinkers in education
today.
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The Khan Lab School model uses online learning resources like the Khan
Academy to provide highly individualized core instruction to every student,
freeing teachers to provide intensive hands-on support for individual learning
needs, social emotional development, and development of self-motivated
learners. The curriculum combines individualized instruction in the core
subjects of math, reading, writing and computer science, with interactive
collaborative project-based learning based on real needs in the local
community, student leadership, and student-led goal setting around each
child’s learning interests and needs. Each element of the program is also
linked to the Common Core.
The Lab at Viva! Learning Space will provide another full-time
educational choice for our families and the homeschooling community in
Long Beach. The program will serve students 2nd through 8th grade. Program
hours are from 9:00am – 4:00pm. Before and after school child care and
enrichment will also be available.
The Lab is starting with a 6-week pilot with its first group of students. We
look forward to sharing more about this exciting new addition to Viva!
Learning Space’s programs as it develops. For more information on The Lab
check with Tova or one of us, or see the Viva! Learning Space website.
Here’s to a wonderful Winter term!
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Lyndee, Cece and Adrian
Announcements from Viva! Co-Op
Please welcome the Co-op Board! Co-op members get to know your Co-op
Board of Directors: Madeline Holler, Chair, Yunique Pettigrew, Vice President,
Arselia Martinez, Treasurer, Bill Gilman, Secretary, and Brooke Henry, Teacher
Representative. These folks will be working hard this Winter to assure the
education provided through the Co-op program is excellent.
Don’t open the Church gate. We love the space at First Congregational
Church. Be sure to let Church staff know how much we appreciate them. Ruth
reminds our families to not open the gate for non-Viva families. Instead please
ask them to buzz Ruth who can then let them in.
What impact will the Lab pilot have on the Co-op program? The impact
on the Co-op program will be minimal. Yunique will be assisting Tova in site
management at the Co-op during the pilot, and Tova will be spending time at
both sites.
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Announcements from Viva! Lab
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The Lab Pilot is starting. During the pilot we will be
perfecting implementation of the Khan model and its
various components before opening the program to our
Viva! Learning Space community and greater Long Beach.
Stay tuned for more information.
Welcome Ashley Hingley to the Lab faculty. We
welcome Ashley Hingley, a certified teacher with 12 years
experience teaching multi-age classrooms, project-based learning, writers and
readers workshop, and special education. Ashley will serve as the teacher for
the Lab pilot.
Learn more about the Lab. We will hold an informational meeting about this
new program mid-January. Check our website for date and time. In the
meantime, a wonderful TED talk about the ideas underlying the program can
be found at:
https://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education?language=e
n#t-990245
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