Does Your Child Struggle in School? Try a Expeditionary Learning School

Do you have a child who struggles in school?  A Expeditionary Learning school might be the solution.

My oldest daughter has always been a child who colored “outside the lines” and we love her for it!  My daughter had a tough time at school and over the years we watched as our spunky, bright daughter became withdrawn and sad.  She had a great deal of negative reinforcement through her school years from teachers and when she was 11, our daughter was the target of some very awful “mean girls” who bullied her so badly that we pulled her out of the school.

We tried a couple of different school solutions, including home school—-but we finally found a school environment where she is thriving!  This year our daughter is attending a Expeditionary Learning school.

Expeditionary Learning is active and individualized, makes use of teams and group support, and is connected to the real world. My daughter’s school is the only school we found in this area that follows the EL approach for her grade level.

The Expeditionary Learning design focuses on teaching in an engaging way. Faculty receive intensive professional development that emphasizes curriculum, best teaching practices and building a strong school culture.

This method of learning combines rigorous academic content with active teaching and community service, along with real-world projects called learning expeditions.

President Obama visited an EL school in the Washington D.C. area earlier this year.  After his visit, The President said:

This kind of innovative school…is an example of how all our schools should be.

Learn by Doing—Not By Lecture

Expeditionary Learning’s program teaches children to learn by doing—versus the traditional approach of learning by lecture. Character development and teamwork are embedded in school structures, practices and rituals and integrated into the academic program.

In Expeditionary Learning schools, much of the academic work is done in learning expeditions — long-term investigations of important questions and subjects that include individual and group projects, field studies, and performances and presentations of student work.

The bottom line is that this approach prepares children for life—not just for the next test or book report. Every child is different and some kids do extremely well in the traditional school setting!  Our younger daughter loves her classes, teachers and friends at our nearby Catholic grade school.  But if you have a child who is like our older daughter, the EL school is a godsend.

If you would like to find out more about Expeditionary Learning schools, visit ELSchools.org.