

Meditation and the News?
City Kids goes on a field trip every Friday! Sometimes, we go somewhere just for fun, and sometimes, we go somewhere for an academic lesson related to what we are doing in our other programming. These two outings are examples of how varied our trips can be. Pictured below, our kids visited a Meditation Museum, to learn about mindfulness, and the Newseum, to learn about the production and dissemination of news. The possibilities are truly endless of where we can go and wha


Labor Unions!
As part of our unit on civics, one of our parents arranged for a local union organizer to come and speak to the kids. She gave them a linear time line of labor unions in the United States, explaining the harsh and unsafe working conditions, and low pay, that sparked generations of labor organizing. The kids were inspired to make posters of what they would organize for--most of them said they wanted more television. :)


Robotics!
This year, City Kids is learning how to code for robotics. They work in teams of two--each team has a computer and a robot that they have to learn to program. We are working with a local organization, which has been a fantastic weekly addition to our science program.


Local, Urban Food Gardening.
As part of our Natural Sciences Program, City Kids is visiting local, urban farms. Urban gardening has been on the rise, and learning about urban farming is an important part of understanding how cities function in different and unexpected ways. Also, and importantly, exposing kids to urban farming allows them to envision cities in a radical new way--city planning takes on a while new meaning when you are planning for the challenges of agriculture and not just residential


Two boys on a bench.
After a field trip one day, these two little boys sat on a bench, relaxing and talking about washing their hair. True story. In some ways, these two boys had a rough start at the beginning of their friendship. They either loved each other or they were fighting--really fighting. Now, they mostly love each other and don't fight anymore--another true story. It took a long time for these two boys to understand each other and know how to be with one another--and this is the m


City Kids Visits a 911 Call Center.
One of our City Kids' aunts invited our group to visit the 911 call center where she works. She explained to our kids what the call center does and the different ways people can get in touch with call centers when they need help. City Kids loves to learn about how things work, whether it's a recycling plant, river filtration systems, or call centers. Call centers are a great place to visit with kids because in the event that a child has to be responsible in an emergency, t