Christina Fedolfi, a 16-year teaching veteran, is starting a children’s carnival class at People Plus in the hope of changing children’s perception of math.
This class, open to students entering grades 1 to 5, will meet for seven Tuesdays or Wednesdays (your choice) from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at People Plus starting this July. Students will learn to plan, create and run a real live carnival.
Students will plan carnival games, budget for and purchase supplies, build booths if needed, create advertising, solicit donations and run the actual event — all valuable lifelong skills.
Fedolfi moved from Massachusetts to Brunswick five years ago. Prior to moving she taught fourth and fifth grade for 11 years in Belmont, Mass., and was manager of curriculum development at an educational consulting company for two years, training teachers from underperforming schools in urban areas. After she moved, she worked in Falmouth, Maine, for two years teaching fourth and fifth grade.
This winter, she ran a math enrichment class at People Plus that exposed children to different areas of math besides computation. She wanted to develop children’s patience and tolerance for frustration, and help them discover some new math strengths they may not have known they had. In class, kids explored visual/spatial math through games and puzzles, and learn problem solving strategies through different types of logic problems.
“Younger students tend to think ‘fast’ equals ‘smart’ (when talking about) math. I hope to change their thinking to include ‘persistent’ and ‘patient’ equals ‘smart’ in math. Many days our challenges go unsolved and students take them home to work on. Some students will solve them at home or will bring them back to class and solve them the next week. The pride children experience when they have really struggled with a problem and then been successful is palpable and motivates us all to keep working.”
For more information, contact People Plus. Class is limited to 20 students and there will be an $80 class fee.
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