PROPEL Academy has introduced a new critical thinking curriculum for the lower elementary portion of the academic program. Students and teachers will be introduced to the PETS Program is a year-long thinking skills program for elementary school children. All students in first through third grades have 8 PETS lessons in their classrooms representing each of the different units. In these sessions, students explore high level divergent, convergent, visual, and evaluative thinking activities.

Mrs. Meier, the Enrichment Specialist for the first through third grade classrooms, works closely with an extraordinary group of thinking specialists from Crystal Pond Woods. Dudley the Detective, who’s a convergent thinker, just loves to solve deductive logic mysteries for the one right answer. Sybil the Scientist, Dudley’s best friend, is very analytical and relishes studying the parts of things. As a divergent thinker, Isabel the Inventor, delights in looking at things in new and different ways and in brainstorming lots of ideas. Her best friends are Yolanda the Yarn-spinner, a creative writer, and Max the Magician, a visual thinker who likes to explore different spatial perspectives. Finally, there’s Jordan the Judge, the evaluative thinker, who must weigh his considerations carefully before he determines the best answer when there is a choice to be made.

Based on teacher observations from these class sessions and a review of each child’s Challenge papers, 4-6 students in each grade who appear to be the most ready at the end of each unit for more challenging work of that nature will receive additional enrichment in 8 small group meetings. The groups of students selected for this enrichment may change from unit to unit, depending on the different strengths demonstrated during the whole class lessons.

Mrs. Meier will be making classroom appearances at different points in the school year. Be sure to stay updated! Ask your child what he or she did in thinking skills this week!

(Borrowed from The Crystal Clarion Newsletter, Spring/Summer 06)