Large showing for the first ever Homeschool Reading Club

 

The Whitecourt & District Public Library offers a seemingly countless array of different free workshops, classes, and activities. On Wednesday, October 3, the Homeschool Reading Club created by the library, gathered to build delicious beach parfaits complete with mini umbrellas. The edible art featured blue Jell-O water, Graham crumb sand, vanilla pudding, and an assortment of candies to decorate with.

Over 20 children took part in the fun event. Library Assistant Lisa Day orchestrated the festivities and said she was happy to see such a large group take part. “When I started the group, I had the kids make a list of what they were interested in to get an idea of some activities we could do. To kick things off we chose cooking because a few of them had said they enjoyed cooking. We can’t cook here as we don’t have a kitchen, so we decided to put together a no-bake recipe where they had to follow directions with ingredients. It seemed that everyone had a lot of fun.”

This is the second get-together for the Homeschool Reading Club after an initial meet and greet last month but the first official event. With a large community of homeschoolers within Whitecourt and surrounding area, the group is welcoming to any families that want to join in on the monthly library events. Day runs the same event twice each month, on different days (one on a Wednesday and the next on a Thursday), so that it gives more opportunity for families to take part. The second chance for children to build the beach parfaits will be on October 11 at 1:30 p.m. at the library.

“I think this program is a great idea and it seems to be getting a great response. I know homeschoolers always appreciate getting together with each other and we are really happy to help provide an opportunity,” said Day. Parent Carmyn Gibson has three children taking part in the club. “I very much appreciate the library doing this for the homeschool group. It’s a great opportunity for our kids.”

Next month Day has invited special guests to speak to the children. “I’m having a biologist come in from Fish & Wildlife to do a presentation for the group. It’ll change up the plan of repeating the same activity because she’s only available for the Wednesday and not the following Thursday. So, we will do a wildlife activity on the second week, but it won’t be the same as the first.”

Her plans for future months include a Lego day as quite a few of the children had expressed interest. Anyone interested in joining the Homeschool Reading Club is invited to contact the library and register their children for the program.