Enrichment is an essential, but often overlooked part of a child’s learning journey. Unfortunately, most children are provided with little to no access to enrichment in their school setting.
The Explorations enrichment model is inspired by the work of Joseph Renzulli. It is designed to provide young learners with three pillars of enriched learning.
1. Exposure to a wide range of topics, explored in varying depth and presented in different styles. (Explorations Camps)
2. Advanced content to children who have shown interests or aptitude in the subject area. (Enrichments)
3. Independent work time to allow learners to develop their own skills and projects. (CreatorLabs)
Why does it matter?
With access to these three learning environments, learners can design their own learning paths, and progress at a rate that suits them. Furthermore, by ensuring Enrichments groups are composed of children with similar interests, skill levels, and learning styles, Explorations Leaders and guest instructors can curate content to suit their needs. Finally, this allows all children to explore their talents and interests, regardless of if they align with the traditional curriculum.
What does it look like in practice?
Simon is a 10-year-old with an interest in video games, nature documentaries, and drawing. During Explorations Winter Camp, he participated in activities focused on animation. He was immediately interested in the topic, especially when he learned that video game artists are often inspired by real animals when designing monsters and villains.
He decided to join some weekend CreatorLabs where he worked with an Explorations Instructor to design a learning project focused on animating animals. After some work, he felt digital animation wasn’t quite right for him. He re-aligned the project towards stop-motion as he enjoyed creating rigs for his animal-inspired characters.
As he worked on his projects at the Lab, he started participating in some Enrichments. First, he did 2-hour Film Lighting course that was led by an Explorations Film Teacher. He could immediately use that knowledge for his animation. He then joined the Understanding Evolution workshop. Although he mostly joined it for fun, he soon saw that some parts of it could be applicable to his animations.
How can I learn more?
You can learn more about the Explorations Enrichment Model at explorationslearning.com, or by scheduling a meeting with one of our team members here.
