What is the CDF Freedom Schools® Program?
Your scholar could be one of the over 100,000 scholars who have had a CDF Freedom Schools® experience since 1995!
In partnership with Welcome Table Inc., the CDF Freedom Schools® program works hard to ensure each scholar is equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in life. Our program boosts scholars’ motivation to read, and generates a more positive attitude towards learning Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math. It also connects the needs of scholars and families to the resources of their communities.
A Day in Welcome Table Inc.’s Freedom Schools® Program
For 6 weeks each summer, scholars enter Freedom School each morning for a nutritious breakfast followed by Harambee, a time to prepare body and mind for learning with chants, dancing, sharing and celebration. Harambee ends with a community hero who serves as the daily guest reader for Read Aloud time. Our guest readers share a book with scholars and share their own story of how hard work, study and diligence lead to success.
In the classroom, where servant leader interns (college students or recent graduates) facilitate classes of no more than ten scholars, the children are engaged in reading and theme-based, hands-on activities as outlined in the Integrated Reading Curriculum. Reading is a cornerstone of the program. Servant leader interns lead the scholars in reading excellent books throughout the summer. These books feature heroes, heroines, and settings that reflect the scholars’ cultural images and history. Classroom activities related to the day’s reading use one or more of a variety of teaching models, including cooperative learning, role playing, and group discussions, and include read aloud, paired reading, Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.)Time, creative writing, or visual arts. The range of activities ensures that scholars with diverse experiences, talents, and levels of confidence in reading and verbal expression are actively engaged.
At lunchtime the feeling of family and community spirit continues as the scholars join adults to eat a nutritious meal.
After lunch, scholars participate in the other cornerstone of the program, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) activities. These are well-planned integrated activities that are related to the theme “I Can Make a Difference in Myself, My Family, My Community, My Country and My World with Hope, Action and Education. Field trips are planned that expand scholars’ horizons for each Friday. The scholars may also engage in social action projects and rehearse for the summer finale that is performed for parents, friends, and community leaders.
The day ends at 4:00pm for our scholars.
For more information on the National Program, visit Children’s Defense Fund.
For more information, contact us.