I work as a kindergarten teacher in a title one, low income urban K-8 school. Most students are on free or reduced lunch. it is my 3rd year as a new teacher and kindergarten was a last minute switch for me. I have loved the change, and growth I can see among my students and it makes it all worth it. They come in on the first day, for many it is thier first time in a school setting, not knowing letters or numbers, and leave reading and writing sentences, adding, subtracting and have a great positive attitude for success. I not only teach the basic curriculum but also life lessons (ex. everything i need to know I learned in kindergarten).
The Leap pads are such a wonderful tool for students, however many parents can't afford even the basic school supplies, which up until this last year have been donated for the last three years. In the past I had purchased 4 leap pads, and the students absolutely loved using them and it served as a great reward for finishing work plus it was a quiet activity. But unfortunately over the summer they disappeared.
Having Leap pads serves both as an educational tool and as a reward for doing hard work. I also like to incorporate them as a reading centers activity. I use the special beginning reading phonics books during reading, and during choice time they can choose other titles which are at kindergarten level or for my advanced readers, they use the 1st grade level books.
If you have ever seen any Leap product used by a child you will see how engaging they are. My son started with a simple leapster and then graduated to the big leap pad. It greatly improves phonics decoding all while playing interactive games. It saves me time from having to set up reading games, and over time it pays for itself. As many as 45-50 kids are exposed to them in a single year. I am but one person, alone with no help with 30 kindergrtners in my homeroom. When trying to maintain order in what seems to be chaos, the leap pads serve as a great educational resource. Please make a difference and help bring technology back into the classroom. Thank you. Mr. G.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. d. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.