Children are amazing little people, with varied interests and creative minds.  They are forever looking for something to explore and they soak up new knowledge like sponges!  How lucky we are as parents to share in their joy of learning as they grow.  Parents often ask for suggestions and ideas for enrichment opportunities for their children.  This page will offer suggestions, websites and other pertinent information.  Please help us out by e-mailing the principal (mailto:smclain@new-fairfield.k12.ct.us) with any new ideas or websites you might have found that we can add.      Children are all different, as you well know if you have more than one child.  They learn in various ways.  Some love to read, some love to experiment, some love to create artistically, some love to analyze and some love physical activity.  We can help our children follow their interests by encouraging them to join clubs, to participate in various organizations, by helping them find interesting books to read and by taking them on little field trips.  We hope the suggestions, information and websites noted below will be helpful to you in this endeavor.      Have fun with your children, enjoy an adventure together and enrich their lives!

Suggested Learning Activities:

Library visits      Listen to music selections      Cooking, sewing, crafts      Shopping - unit pricing, coupon use and determining change      Read together as a family      Journal writing      Gardening      Science experiments      Nature walks      Letter and postcard writing      Community service projects      Geography games      Exploring the newspaper together - politics, local news, sports, human interest      Cartoon or art classes      Scavenger hunts/treasure hunts

Family Field Trip Possibilities:

Hidden Valley - New Fairfield      Squantz Pond - New Fairfield       Dinosaur State Park Home Page-  Rocky Hill, Ct.         Mystic Seaport - Mystic, Ct.          The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk  - Norwalk, Ct.         Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Ma.      Elliot Pratt Center - New Milford, Ct.      Bronx Zoo - Bronx, N.Y.      Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum - N.Y., N.Y.      Ellis Island - N.Y., N.Y.          The Metropolitan Museum of Art - N.Y., N.Y.      Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Brooklyn, N.Y.      American Museum of Natural History - N.Y., N.Y.      Connecticut - Museums      Liberty Science Center - N.J.      Charles Ives Center for the Arts  (Music and Theater) - Danbury, Ct.      Naval Submarine Base New London - Groton, Ct.      Essex Steam Train - Essex, Ct.      The Hudson River Museum (and Planetaruim) - Yonkers, NY      Reader's Digest Art Tour - Mr. Kisco, N.Y.      Renaissance Festival - Sterling Forest, N.Y.      Whale Watch - Cape Cod, Ma.      Kent Falls Park - Kent, Ct.      Muscoot Farm - Somers, N.Y.

Websites of Interest: (Please note, as with all sites, parents should explore these sites themselves for appropriateness of materials, before their children use them.)

Search Engines: Google KidsClick! Web Search Ask Jeeves Kids Content Areas: American Museum of Natural History Activities History House Online History Channel Time for Kids | Home Scholastic News Brain Teasers, Trivia and Quotes Smithsonian Institute:  History Wired You Be the Historian SBC Knowledge Network Explorer : Online Learning : Blue Web'n : Subject Areas Online Activities Viking Voyage Government for Kids 45 Moments in NASA History  States and Capitals The Math Forum: Student Center http://www.suelebeau.com/science.htm Sites Specific to Gifted and Talented for Parents: Acceleration: Topical Research Series NEAG Center Resources for Parents Online Articles about G/T Students Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth DeLeon Publishing, Inc. Hoagies' Gifted Education Page GreatKidsCT : Learning Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction Gifted and Talented Information for Parents