GAB Club Information To Publications / Articles - GAB Club Information
Posted 6/7/23
GAB Club is a Redwoods Member program:
GAB Club is for kids ages 4-13 to do gym class, art class, and a book class. There are three age groups and each age group will rotate through the classes. This is a parent taught co-op, no drop offs. Parents are ultimately responsible for their children. Parents are asked to volunteer teach or be a helper to a teacher for one class (and can relax during the other two classes), or help with set/up and clean up. Nursery is available for children age 3 and under.
The purpose of GAB is to get together with homeschool families and build friendships while having some structure to the day with a gym class, art class, and books class.
Days: Every other Friday (2nd and 4th Fridays), meets five dates per session. Fall Session is Sept-Nov, Winter Session meets for four dates and is Jan-March, Spring Session is April-June
*Arrival time is 10:00 am, classes end at 12:30 pm. Bring lunch and have a time of fellowship and play after GAB outside on the lawn/ playground.
- 10:00 Arrival + Announcements + Prayer
- 10:15 first class
- 11:00 second class
- 11:45 third class
- 12:30 clean up and dismissal
- lunch/ play/ fellowship after gab
Location: Liberty Baptist Church, Bristol, CT. Gym class will be in the parking lot (unless it's raining, then it will be in the Big Room). Park in the lower lot, leaving the first few rows near the grass empty.
Cost: $15 per student per session
Registration: Teachers + board members will register first, registration typically happens 3 weeks before the start date. We typically ask who wants to teach 3 weeks prior to registration. Families who participated in GAB previously may register next. Families who have been in Redwoods (gone through one registration period) but not participated in GAB registers next. New Redwoods families may register last.
The registration priority is intended to facilitate our process and keep it fair to families wishing to participate in GAB. Some sessions are more popular than others, some sessions are more popular for one particular age group. Because we limit the number of students in each age group, we must also take into consideration the age of students in each family in determining which families are able to participate in GAB each session. So, if a session is popular, some families may be placed on the wait list and will not be able to participate.
We may consider adding another GAB program in the future IF there is immense need and desire and if there is a volunteer to help lead/direct the additional program.
Participation:
Students register before clubs begin and families should be committed to attend each date of the session; this is not a drop-in program and the success of the session depends upon the committment of families being present and engaged. (If you know you'll be absent 2 days due to vacation/ other commitments in a session, please skip that session so that other families may have a chance to participate. Thank you.)
This is not a drop-off program; parents are asked to volunteer to lead a class ("open and go" lessons are provided) or be a helper in one class. The price reflects a one-time cost for the session per student. Students rotate in their age group to gym, art, and books class; when you sign up for GAB, you sign up for all three classes.
Teacher benefits: register first, lessons provided, on duty for only one class
GAB Club teachers/helpers will agree to not teach in opposition to our Statement of Faith; teachers teaching from a Christian curriculum or teach about Christian doctrine will agree with our Statement of Faith.
Age groups:
- Meadow kids (ages 4-6)
- Grove kids (ages 7-9)
- Forest kids (ages 10-13)
Class size:
We will try our best to keep class size to around 10-12 students. GAB works best with about 22-24 families. Classes must have 2 adults.
Parent Jobs:
Teachers will have the responsibility to prep for their one class (either gym, art, or books -- meadow kids, grove kids, or forest kids) and use the GAB Guidebook (lesson book) to facilitate/teach their class.
Helpers will have the responsiblility to help in one class. They may be asked to "float" during GAB and be in other classes as a helper. All helpers will do the end of day clean up. If a teacher is absent, a helper will fill in for the teacher and use our "open and go" GAB Guidebook to teach the class.
Gym teacher--- Instruct kids in activities and games to practice and build gross motor skills. Perseverance and teamwork is encouraged.
Gym helper--- Help kids follow directions and participate in activities. Help teacher with demonstrations. Fill in for teacher in case of absence.
Art teacher--- Instruct kids in art techniques, skills, and art appreciation to complete 2-3 art projects. Art is focused on fine arts instruction and less "arts and crafts" style. Teachers encourage students to try their best and it's okay to make "mistakes."
Art helper--- Help assist teacher, guide kids in their work. Fill in for teacher in case of absence.
Book teacher--- Present books and reading to foster a love of learning and a love of reading. This is intended to be casual, lots of talking/discussing, no need for formal analysis. All kids: Kids are asked to bring a book they are reading or a favorite book each week to possibly share and talk about with their classmates. Teachers should encourage all students to speak and share.
Book helper--- Help teacher where needed. Fill in for teacher in case of absence.
***teachers and helpers are responsible to clean up their class related supplies/ projects/ mess
Nursery--- Care for our littlest ones. Sing, play, pretend, read books, etc. Leave the nursery cleaner than you found it. Wipe tables and chairs, toys, and other surfaces. Sweep or vacuum as needed. Take out the garbage.
Set Up/ Clean Up/ Closet--- Help set up as needed, float if needed, check that cleaning tasks are done, help clean where needed, keep the closet organized, post lost and found pics on Slack in #gab channel
***We will leave the building cleaner than how we found it.***
Helpers/ Floaters: Each parent who is not a teacher will be a helper in one class as your primary parent job. In addition to being a helper, you will also be assigned as a floater and clean up person. Floating simply means during the GAB day you check in on each class during each class period to see if teachers need assistance with anything and to ensure each class has at least 2 adults. Floaters will help to fill in in case of absence.
Supply Closet Info: In an effort to keep our supply closet well organized --we have one person assigned to be in charge of the closet, this is the only person to go into the closet, please. There will be a small table outside the closet to "check out" and "check in" supplies/equipment. Thank you!
Parent room: There will be a room available for parents to hang out in and talk or work on your own thing for when you are not teaching, helping, or floating. You may of course stay with your child if needed.
*NEW*
What to expect out of the classes:
Structure:
- Gym Class
- warm up
- rules review
- lesson/ practice skills
- games
- Art Class
- Art Study
- lesson/ introduce skills, technique, project
- working time
- Books Class
- Read aloud (while kids eat snack)
- Lesson/ discussion/ activity
- Book Talk Presentations
Content:
- Gym class-- The purpose is for kids to move and gain gross motor skills and have fun with friends.
- kids will practice/ learn how to follow directions
- learn about spatial awareness/ boundaries
- practice good sportsmanship and teamwork
- learn and play a variety of games (forest kids, ages 10-13, may focus learning and playing one sport per session)
- Art class-- The purpose is for kids to learn about art and create art. Projects are more about fine arts, and not "arts and crafts".
- Each session will have a theme of projects and kids typically complete 2-3 projects. Theme examples are Architecture (castles, city scapes), Portraits, Animals, Sculpture, Landscapes, etc.
- Projects will vary using different mediums and focusing on different elements and principles of art.
- Each class with begin with a 5 minute Art Study related to the project. A work of art will be shown to the kids and they will briefly talk about what they see. They will hear a little about the artist as well.
- Books class-- The purpose is to foster a love of reading, expose kids to a variety of books, and encourage sharing about books.
- Each year we'll focus on one overal topic: learning about genres, or authors, or seasonal themes
- Each session we'll focus on a sub topic: Fiction, Poetry/Drama, American Authors, Winter themed books, Spring themed books, etc.
- The read-aloud will be a picture book or selection from a chapter book related to the session's theme
- The lesson/ activity will be related to the read aloud
- The forest kids (ages 10-13) may be asked to read a book at home and discuss during class, book club style
- The book talk presentations are all about the kids sharing a book that they've read (or was read to) or are reading. They will have the opportunity to stand in front of the class, for 2-3 mins, and talk about their book and why they liked it.