Summer is like an extended vacation for children. School is out and students fill their time with hobbies and interests. Some children fill their sunny days outside participating in recreational activities. Others stay inside and play videogames or watch television. The Latch Key program provides children with much more than play over summer vacation. The program serves children 5-10, and gives them the opportunity to learn, develop life skills, and take field trips. Each participant has his or her personal favorite. “My favorite part is meeting new friends,” six-year-old Jarred Merchant said. Maddy O’Brien said that she enjoys the field trips. Each year, participants take six field trips, three local “walking” trips and three trips further away: “driving trips.” This summer’s field trips have included a visit to the primitive zoo and the Charles Lindbergh Historical Site in Little Falls, and to the veterinary clinic in Watkins. “We talked with the veterinary and got to see lots of animals that swallowed stuff [on X-rays],” O’Brien said. Chelsey Maus talked about their visit to the Charles Lindbergh Interpretive Center and house. “We saw a car that [Lindberg] drove from Little Falls to California,” Maus said. Other students added that the car only went 20 miles-per-hour and that Lindberg needed to drive it backwards while traveling in the mountains. Latch Key employee Theresa Mathies said trips are centered around Minnesota history. “[The kids] know a lot of reading and math, but they don’t know the history. I really want them to learn history.” In addition to field trips, the children review school skills and learn different languages. Theresa Mathies has taught the young pupils Japanese, as well as the languages from India and New Zealand. Children reinforce their language skills with songs to practice new words. To further develop skills, the supervisor of Latch Key, Mary Mathies, works with students on math and word games. In one game, Mary uses flashcards and selects one letter from the pile. Then the competition begins. “We have two teams and students think of as many words as they can that start with [the letter drawn].” Based on their age, students are given a certain amount of time to think of words. Scores are kept to find the winning team. Students also have time to play. They said that their favorite games are “farmer,” “honey won’t you please smile/laugh,” “someone stole the cookie” and “toilet tag,” which the students were eager to explain. As in regular tag, one person is “it,” and the others run from this person. If students are caught, they must kneel on one knee with their other knee up. Youngsters lift their arm to act as a “flusher.” To be freed, another participant sits on the raised knee and “flushes” the arm. The game continues until everyone is “caught.” The children laughed and said “we make up a lot of games.” Another favorite is acting. Katie Oster added, “Some-times we do plays. Last year, we did ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ I was the king, Jenna [Maus] was the queen. I looked like a king since I had short hair at that time.” While the students learn and have fun at Latch Key, they also realize the importance of service. They are involved in the community by serving lunch at the senior dining center and helping plant a garden at the elementary school, which is made possible through a Beautify Minnesota grant. Mathies said that each Latch Key student helps with the garden by planting the flowers and participating in the weekly weeding and watering (if needed). The children were more than thrilled to show off the fruits of their labor. With 200 plants, the garden displays flowers of all color, an almost weed-free environment. O’Brien excitedly showed how weeds were pulled. “Sometimes we don’t get out the roots,” she said, pulling off some weed leaves. “I like it because the flowers are pretty,” Carla Czech said. Oster added, “It is nice ’cause you get to help everyone [who sees it].” Latch Key meets every Monday-Friday during the summer. The program also continues into the school year, serving students before and after school. “I think that it does the students well – they are learning to work with other students all of the time [through Latch Key],” Mary Mathies said. For more information on Latch Key or the programs provided, contact Kimball Elementary School at (320) 398-5425, and ask for Mary Mathies.
