Newswise — The National Center for Family Literacy and Better World Books announced today that they are accepting applications for mini-grants to promote creative ideas for using Wonderopolis.org® with families.
These $500 mini-grants will be awarded to 20 community-based organizations, libraries or schools with creative ideas for adopting and using Wonderopolis with the families in their existing programs. Wonderopolis.org was created by NCFL in 2010 to provide free, family-friendly content that is practical, easy to use and designed to engage children’s natural curiosity and transform it into a lifelong love of learning. It was recently named one of the 30 sites all dads should check out by ThirtyMag.com.
The applications, available at www.wonderopolis.org/minigrants, are due Aug. 19.
Applicants must describe how they will use the mini-grant to embed Wonderopolis in their program and how it will help them better deliver educational services to those they serve.
“Teachers have turned to Wonderopolis as a high-tech resource for the classroom that fosters the joy of learning in children and bridges the connection between home and school,” said Emily Kirkpatrick, vice president of NCFL. “Every day, teachers are praising how Wonderopolis is bringing excitement into the classroom for their students and into their homes with their own children. We want to continue to foster that creativity by helping personalize Wonderopolis for families in their programs and communities.”
From incorporating the Wonderopolis widget on school websites to blogging about their Wonderopolis experiences with middle school students to using the website to start off the day with a kindergarten class, teachers across the country are creatively using it as an educational supplement. And parents are inspired through weekly WonderChats on Twitter to create craft time and other fun learning projects with their children.
“My students compete with each other before the school bell rings in the morning to see who knows the Wonder of the Day®,” said Jon Fines, an elementary school teacher in Montana, who also uses it with at home with his son. “It’s basically just a few minutes of good ol' lap time with my 6-year-old.”
The grant award recipients will be announced in mid-September. This is the latest partnership effort between NCFL and Better World Books, which together have raised more than $740,000 for NCFL’s programming since 2005.
“A brand-new Wonder of the Day publishes each and every day, making exciting, educational content available to libraries, community centers, YMCAs and other community-based organizations serving families and children,” said David Murphy, president and CEO of Better World Books.
ABOUT WONDEROPOLIS AND NCFLWonderopolis provides family-friendly content that is practical, easy to use and designed to engage children’s natural curiosity and transform it into a lifelong love of learning. It was created by the National Center for Family Literacy, which is the worldwide leader in family literacy. More than 1 million families have made positive educational and economic gains as a result of NCFL’s work, which includes training more than 150,000 teachers and thousands of volunteers. For more information, visit www.famlit.org.
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