Welcome families and friends of El Rio Charter School.
Our vision is to found a Kindergarten through 5th grade public charter school, opening in 2013, which brings the advantages of a Waldorf style education to Northeast Los Angeles.
We are calling for participants willing to strategize, collaborate and give skills and time to help us
make it happen.

Saturday 6/25 – Parents of El Rio Play Date

Posted: June 21st, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: events, Friends of el Rio, Parenting, Parents of El Rio Play Dates, play, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Kick off the summer with us!
Join the development team and our families on Saturday, June 25th from 11am to 1pm for a play date with the parents of el Rio.

We’ll be at La Tierra de la Culebra Art Park, located at 240 South Avenue 57 in Highland Park.

From their website:

The centerpiece of [this two acre] art park is a 550 foot long sculptural serpent, La Culebra, as well as revolving mural panels, an urban forest of over 150 trees, gardens, incised ziggurat, a stage, sundial, pond, sculptural amphitheater.

Look for Development Team member Kim Ilas under the trees.
Kim is striking and tall and mocha-skinned and has long dread locks and twin daughters.
See you there!

Parents of el Rio Play Date – Saturday, March 5, 2011

Posted: February 24th, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: events, Parenting, play | 3 Comments »

We have so much fun at these play dates, we’re doing it again! This time Kim is bringing a refrigerator box for the kids to play with/in.
Join the development team and our families on Saturday, March 5th from 11am to 1pm for a play date for the parents of el Rio.

We’ll be at La Tierra de la Culebra Art Park, located at 240 South Avenue 57 in Highland Park.

From their website:

The centerpiece of [this two acre] art park is a 550 foot long sculptural serpent, La Culebra, as well as revolving mural panels, an urban forest of over 150 trees, gardens, incised ziggurat, a stage, sundial, pond, sculptural amphitheater.

Look for Development Team member Kim Ilas under the trees.
Kim is striking and tall and mocha-skinned and has long dread locks and twin daughters.
<—— There she is now!

See you there!

What if L.A. children had more PLAY and less PRESSURE?

Posted: August 1st, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Child mental health, Parenting, play, Teacher Training | No Comments »

PRESSURE TO PERFORM, SUCCEED, WIN, COMPETE, PLEASE

NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY TO PLAY: FREE, SELF-INITIATED PLAY WITH “LOOSE PARTS”.

Imagine a kindergarten where PLAY is the main subject.  Where play is the pre-requisite for acquiring proficiency in the three R’s? Where free, experimental, child-initiated play is the pre-requisite for critical & creative thinking, getting along & collaborative networking, and taking individual initiative in life?

What if free play becomes the new way to keep students’ brains active?

Is there anything about the idea of non-prescriptive, self-directed, no-rules, no winners/losers play as children’s essential ‘work’ that worries you?

What are the obstacles you think stand in the way of giving L.A. children and students the play they need for a satisfying childhood and meaningful life?

How would your own life change if you adopted more of a no-right-or-wrong-way-to-play approach to your world-view, your relationships, your activities?

  • “Building a Better Playground” TIME [video: http://bit.ly/bYfrIs] [story: http://bit.ly/bAMpXD]
  • “State of Play” The New Yorker [article: http://bit.ly/aGkb95]
  • Monique’s Magical Waldorf Kindergarten Class 2010 San Francisco: [video http://bit.ly/cRF27q]

CHILD-INITIATED PLAY GROUND: Who would we be if this was our daily experience as children?

TRY IT OUT FOR YOURSELF THIS SUMMER

“Play Every Day” ideas and fact sheet from the Alliance for Childhood