At Turtle Rock, a lot of improvements can be made by just evaluating one of their threats: the set, repetitive, schedule that creates time constraints and limits the students from participating in challenging and engaging activities.
Below are some research based theories and principles on why the set schedule is a threat to the youth participants and what the potential solutions there are.
There is too much unstructured play time. Students spend a maximum of 4 hours a day at the program, but approximately 2 of those hours are allocated to inside free play and outside time. I often see kids just walking around, trying to find something to do. Lam and McHale argue that structured time is very important for the students’ development. Having …show more content…
The active activity is almost always crafting and the active activity is usually some form of dodgeball or capture the flag. From the 20 hours I’ve served, I’ve only seen one boy participate in the passive activity. The youth is limited in what they can do. Larson argues that exploring one’s interests is developmentally beneficial. It shows initiative. Showing more initiative means that they are more excited about life and more willing to accept more responsibilities and challenges (Larson, 171). Structured voluntary activities are a period in which youth is intrinsically motivated, constructive attentive, and putting in effort. Adolescents reported being in what Csikszentmihalyi calls flow (Larson, 174). Youth activities should be youth based, involve real world problems, require participation over a period of time and foster probabilistic thinking (Larson, 177). Doing these kind of activities will allow youth to practice skills more applicable in the real world. One potential solution is allowing students more options in what they can do during active and passive programing. It will be even more beneficial if those activities develop from student voice and interest. Staff can supervise as students lead their peers in activities that are tailored to their
Below are some research based theories and principles on why the set schedule is a threat to the youth participants and what the potential solutions there are.
There is too much unstructured play time. Students spend a maximum of 4 hours a day at the program, but approximately 2 of those hours are allocated to inside free play and outside time. I often see kids just walking around, trying to find something to do. Lam and McHale argue that structured time is very important for the students’ development. Having …show more content…
The active activity is almost always crafting and the active activity is usually some form of dodgeball or capture the flag. From the 20 hours I’ve served, I’ve only seen one boy participate in the passive activity. The youth is limited in what they can do. Larson argues that exploring one’s interests is developmentally beneficial. It shows initiative. Showing more initiative means that they are more excited about life and more willing to accept more responsibilities and challenges (Larson, 171). Structured voluntary activities are a period in which youth is intrinsically motivated, constructive attentive, and putting in effort. Adolescents reported being in what Csikszentmihalyi calls flow (Larson, 174). Youth activities should be youth based, involve real world problems, require participation over a period of time and foster probabilistic thinking (Larson, 177). Doing these kind of activities will allow youth to practice skills more applicable in the real world. One potential solution is allowing students more options in what they can do during active and passive programing. It will be even more beneficial if those activities develop from student voice and interest. Staff can supervise as students lead their peers in activities that are tailored to their