Experiential Education at Hirsch

Throughout the fall semester, Hirsch students have benefited from several experiential learning opportunities both during and after school. Students have learned about grammar, math, geography and language arts by playing fun and educational games, participating in art projects and engaging in creative movement. Our kindergarten students recently practiced their number recognition by rolling dice and discussing the concepts of more, less and equal numbers. In our free after-school tutoring program, our kindergarten and 1st grade students have been sounding out consonant-vowel-consonant words like r-u-g with creative movements to recognize the different phonemes, while other 1st and 2nd grade students were building silly sentences with the different parts of speech by playing a game with flash cards.

1st and 4th grade students have been learning about the continents, oceans, cardinal directions, longitude and latitude in our Core Knowledge Language Arts extension class. They have been creating and labeling their own maps and compasses, and constructing longitude and latitude diagrams. They are now making their own paper mache globes where they will apply all the geographical concepts that they have learned.

Students in our PE class have also had the opportunity to develop their brain-body connectivity by utilizing the SMART Fit Multi-Station Trainer donated by the Partners for Paiute organization. Students develop their physical speed, agility, strength and accuracy while improving their cognitive skills. They achieve this by throwing balls that hit the moving targets which display colors, numbers, letters, symbols and shapes. Through all these multi-sensory learning activities, students have improved their academic skills, had fun and developed higher self-esteem in the process. At Hirsch Academy we believe in incorporating experiential learning in as many ways as possible.