Wilma Kenny | Dec 04, 2019
This sounds like…fun?? It was not only fun, but an up-roaring success, last Wednesday night (November 27) at Loughborough Public School in Sydenham, when the library filled with parents and children from kindergarten to grade 3 enthusiastically playing a variety of card and board games.
It all began with the idea of primary teacher Sharon Isbell, to help teach math and number skills through the use of games. When she approached the Sydenham Lions Club for a donation of $100 and received three times that amount, she was able to buy a lot of games, both modern and old familiar ones like Yahtzee and Snakes and Ladders.
At 6pm, the library was full of tables, each with a couple of games, and a few minutes later the room filled with parents and children. The children already were familiar with the games and keen to teach them to their parents. Isbell briefly described some of the basic skills: number recognition; counting more efficiently; learning simple math shortcuts; sharpening memory; that could be learned and strengthened by playing games involving numbers.
A few times during the evening, everyone changed tables, moving on to new games. Parents learned how playing games could be a way to have fun helping their children with homework, and may have picked up a few ideas for Christmas presents.
Several of the local Lions were also present: Lion Joanne Ankers, herself a retired teacher, said she was surprised and pleased when several people, both adults and children, thanked her as a Lions representative, for helping making this event possible.
It was a happy, raucous, delightful evening.
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