The Junior League of Phoenix

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ROCKETS

ROCKETS - Raising Our Children's Knowledge by Educating Through Science - a theme-based early literacy program focused on developing the math and science skills of pre-K children. The program brings hands-on science activities to at-risk children in Maricopa County to help foster problem solving, critical thinking and exploration skills that are critical to future academic success.

The JLP ROCKETS program provides seven monthly classroom lessons for pre-K students, their teacher and their parents, at the Junior League of Phoenix Classroom located in the Children’s Museum of Phoenix. The children take home “Fun” work activities afterward that support the classroom lesson and encourage additional parental involvement. The ROCKETS curriculum is reinforced with coordinated visits to the Children’s Museum of Phoenix for parents and students related to the monthly theme.

ROCKETS will include a Teacher Launch Seminar, serving 50 or more preschool teachers in Maricopa County. The Teacher Launch Seminar is an all day training/event designed to support 50 or more teachers who work with pre-school children in at-risk areas in Maricopa County. The JLP Teacher Launch Seminar training will provide hands-on, how-to science lessons for preschool teachers. The teachers gain important skills by participating in non-stop hands-on science activities. They learn how to teach centripetal force by swirling pennies and hex nuts in balloons, they experiment with colored crystals, Insta-Snow, and see the magic of Mentos and Diet Coke. The teachers leave the seminar with the knowledge, supplies and enthusiasm to bring science into their classrooms!

The JLP ROCKETS Teacher Launch Seminar empowers teachers who work with pre-K students on a daily basis, making a continued lasting impact on pre-K math & science education for years to come. This all day “how to” training will bring math, science & reading skills to an estimated 1000+ children per year.

Community Need

  • The JLP ROCKETS program serves preschool children in Maricopa County by providing exposure to early math & science education.
  • Structured early math & science programming is currently not offered for most preschool children in Maricopa County below the poverty line.
  • ROCKETS will be provided free of charge.
  • The JLP ROCKETS program provides emphasis on early math and science skills in addition to early reading skills, to prepare children with comprehensive abilities needed for success in kindergarten and beyond.
  • The JLP ROCKETS program fosters early math, science & reading interest in preschoolers. This interest supports later exposure to STEM programming (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
  • The ROCKETS curriculum is provided in both English and Spanish.

Community Impact

Kindergarten Preparedness Goals:

Math

  • Expectation 1: Children demonstrate an understanding of number and numerical operations.
  • Expectation 2: Children develop knowledge of spatial concepts, e.g., shapes and measurement.
  • Expectation 3: Children understand patterns, relationships and classification.
  • Expectation 4: Children develop knowledge of sequence and temporal awareness.
  • Expectation 5: Children will use mathematical knowledge to represent, communicate and solve problems in their environment.

Science

  • Expectation 1: Children develop inquiry skills, including problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Expectation 2: Children observe and investigate the properties of objects, both living and nonliving.
  • Expectation 3: Children explore the concept of change in both living and nonliving entities and in the environment.
  • Expectation 4: Children develop an awareness of the environment and human responsibility for its care.

The long term impact of the JLP ROCKETS program is considerable. ROCKETS will provide thousands of children the exposure to a quality program with positive measureable results. ROCKETS will provide many children the opportunity to experience and benefit over the long term both directly through our volunteers and also through our training opportunity for teachers, both free of charge.

The JLP ROCKETS museum programming will impact approximately 20 – 40 children, their teachers and their parents per year. The JLP ROCKETS Teacher Launch Seminar component will impact approximately 50+ teachers who will in turn impact their classrooms or an additional 1000 children for each training offered per year.