“So, Acton is play based, like Montessori schools?”
We love games at Acton Academy Port St. Lucie.
Absolutely LOVE them and, by this I mean every day involves engaging the learners in multiple games or I feel I am not doing my job correctly as Guide-Gamemaker.
And while games are fun to play, Acton is not “play based.”
In Montessori schools, play is seen as a child’s work and the learners get to choose from a variety of activities to freely explore, without directions or restrictions.
In contrast, at Acton we are “game based” which involves:
- Rules and consequences
- More focused and intense energy from each player
- Collaboration, negotiation, and communication with others.
While we use games to allow the learners to have fun, we are also carefully choosing, modifying, and implementing games to engage the learners on new, challenging levels.
For example, recently during PE time, the kids were playing a game called “Woob Ball,” casually tossing an oversized inflatable soccer ball across a tennis net. The game was fun for a bit but soon interest dwindled.
They were offered a new challenge, which they accepted, and so a new game began: every team member has to touch the ball once before it can be sent over the net.
Suddenly the game had a new intensity of focus, communication, fairness, honesty, accountability. A casual game had turned into a fun, intensely challenging game that kept their attention for 40 minutes.
At the end of the game, our oldest learner turned to the others and said, “I think we should rename it ‘Team Ball’ because it made us practice teamwork.”
Ahh…the players are catching on.
TRY THIS AT HOME:
Spelling can often be a difficult skill to get children to practice, so we game-it-up. Here are some of our favorite spelling games that can be modified so that children of multiple skill levels can play at once:
- Boggle
- Scrabble
- Upwords
- Bananagrams
- Word Battleships
- Scavenger Word Hunts
If you have a new reader or speller, allow them to pick up a book that they can read and reference words from this. Allow siblings to work together against a common adversary (parents) and you will see a new intensity to their play.
Check out this free printable spelling game that you can customize to your learners at home (you must leave Acton’s webpage to access).
