EduQuine

03/12/2024

The productive struggle is something we love to work on every day with our clients.

Learning to work through frustration in a calm and assertive manner is a crucial life skill that many kids miss out on in our ‘immediate relief’ society. So many times we see our students get frustrated and want to throw down the rope and quit. The ‘productive struggle’ is not about giving a student a problem and leaving them to figure it out by themselves, rather it is the art of facilitating and encouraging problem solving skills in the client.

While asking Rojan to place his 2 front feet in the hula hoop seems like an easy task, it brought up an entire conversation between these two that eventually ended in success. Our student learned to adapt her communication to clearly engage with her equine partner, had to persevere (many times) but eventually developed connection and gained confidence in herself through this small but mighty task.

~”Productive struggle is developing strong habits of mind, such as perseverance and thinking flexibly, instead of simply seeking the correct solution. Not knowing how to solve a problem at the outset should be expected. The key is working through a problem, encouraging students to think outside the box, and not letting them get discouraged if their initial strategies don’t work.”

08/23/2023

🚨 New Horse Powered Reading®️ program alert! 🚨

➡️ HPR Homework Club will take place at the Hope, Horses & Kids barn at Valley View Equestrian Center off River Road. We will be hosting a 6 week program that will take place on Wednesdays from 2-4pm.🥳 (Aug 30-Oct 11) Lessons will include some of the excellent HPR curriculum activities 💫, horse time 🥰 and some quiet time to work on individual homework the kids may have.

This is limited to 6 kids only so we can dedicate quality time to your child, and there are just a few spots left. $250 for the 6 week program! DM me or email [email protected] if you are interested. 🐎🌞

08/10/2023

And that’s a wrap! Day 3 of HPR camp is done ✅. We started the day by incorporating a bit of a riding game (the students earned it 😇) where they ride to barrels and pick up puzzle pieces with words on to form correct sentences.

This afternoon was vocabulary soccer and it was hard! ⚽️ 🥅 We purposely printed out long, multi-syllable words as all the kids had identified these as obstacles to reading on day 1. We wanted to teach these kids to S L O W D O W N when reading, not to rush and skip over a word they don’t know. The metaphors that came up in this game were real A-ha moments!🤯. Frustration occurred when the horse didn’t kick the ball, I reminded them that when they rush and miss a word in a book they don’t comprehend the whole story. When they rushed the horses to the ball, the horses couldn’t comprehend what the child wanted them to do! 🤔 It was a fantastic lesson in learning to slow down, set yourself up for success, break it down into syllables by placing your finger on the word (and also the horses hoof on the ball) when reading. This was brain taxing for all of the kids and they did a great job. 💯

08/09/2023

Day 2 ✌️ of Horse Powered Reading ®️ camp and we had a blast! Our first exercise was Word Herds where kids build their 'ranch pens', are given a phoneme (-ain -ack - ight etc) which is their 'brand', they then take their cowhorse reading buddy and gather up all their 'cattle' (lots of metaphorical learning going on here 😂). They then had to create a sentence with each word on their cow before loading it in the 'stock trailer' (the storage tote).

This afternoon was Word Racer where kids learn about the Magic E. Our race was delayed while we waited for Queen Jewels to have a quick nap on the warm sand 🙄😍.
Short words are printed on one side of the cone 🔺, with the 'magic e' added to the word on the other side (mat, mate etc). In teams of 2 👯‍♂️ the kids had to lead their reading buddy through the cones, reading each word out loud, they would then hand their horse to their partner who had to read them back the other way. This continued until each team member had read both sides of the cones. They then had to race to collect the cones and tell us a sentence using the words on the cones.

Kids are moving their bodies and engaging their brains and it is so special to see the light in their eyes when they begin to enjoy reading. Hope, Horses & Kids Horse Powered Reading

08/08/2023

Day 1 of our Horse Powered Reading camp and the kids didn't want to leave! We built our 'road to reading' where the kids discussed obstacles they think prevent them from becoming great readers. We then brainstormed as to how they can overcome these obstacles 🤺🚀 and led their reading buddies through the road. And no HPR camp is complete without a reading comprehension exercise in the barn with Miss Peach 🐴!
Hope, Horses & Kids Horse Powered Reading

08/05/2023

This week we taught the kids how to longline a horse - starting with each other of course! There’s no better way to learn than by doing and feeling. Kids learned to Trust each other, they learned Communication, Connection and eventually gained Confidence, not to mention all the fun they had practicing these activities. This activity also teaches coordination - it’s a lesson in giving and taking - giving pressure with one hand while taking it away with the other. Valuable life skills learned in a beautiful setting. Hope, Horses & Kids

08/03/2023

🛝 Avoid the summer slide by signing up for our Horse Powered Reading®️ booster summer camp next week! Flyer attached below. Kids will engage in educational activities with their horse partners, having fun while learning and improving their reading skills 🧑‍🏫

07/30/2023

Good morning! ☀️

Have you signed up for the back to school booster reading camp yet? 📖 🏃‍♂️ Get your kid prepped and ready for the start of school with our HPR 3 day camp. Kids become self-motivated and enjoy reading more when learning by moving their bodies in a beautiful outdoor space with our amazing equine partners 🐴

07/29/2023

Teamwork makes the dream work at HHK summer camps! 👫 We had kids build an obstacle course of their own creation before leading their horse and learning to ride through it, explaining to the counselors the direction of the course. 🎯 These activities build teamwork skills, organizational skills, leadership skills, self-confidence and general LIFE skills that these kids can apply in everyday circumstances. 🏆

07/27/2023

🤩 Horse labelling with Queen Jewels. Kids pick out a horse body part from a bag of labels, they then have to read 👀 the label and tape it onto the correct horse body part 🐴. If they don't know what it is, they can cross check and find it on a diagram, match the words up and then tape it on. This multi-sensory learning technique motivates children to want to read, understand why we need to learn to read and also to enjoy it. We also discuss homonyms, what they are and how to spell different horse related ones (mane, main, tail, tale etc).

07/25/2023

Hello! 🦄

📣📣 Exciting news! We're thrilled to announce the launch of our new Horse Powered Reading Back2School Booster summer camp 📖 ✨ , where learning and fun go hoof in hoof! 🌿☀️
Kids will be exposed to the HPR curriculum and participate in activities such as the Road to Reading, Word Herds, The Pony Express and a fan favorite - Vocabulary Soccer. All activities help your child decode phonograms, learn CVC and CVCe sight words and build their fluency in reading all by using the power of the horse 🐴

The camp will run for 3 days only - August 7th, 8th and 9th from 10am - 3pm. We ask that campers are between the ages of 7-11. Space is limited to 8 campers only and as this is our first one there will be a bonus introductory price of only $225. It will be held at the Hope, Horses and Kids barn at Valley View Equestrian Center, 800 River Road, Salinas.

Please fill out the form below and send it in to confirm your space. Like and share with your friends too! 🌻

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TzB6GgIC2x5dT-6PF7129wXdMhyNLP_awpYqjhdhEo0/edit

07/20/2023

07/07/2023

Hello 🖐

I've combined my love for horses, reading and nature and completed the Horse Powered Reading instructor course. Along with Hope, Horses & Kids ( https://hopehorseskids.org/ )we will be bringing this wonderful program to Salinas & Monterey County.

This is an exciting curriculum designed by Dr Michele Pickele to improve reading skills in kids, teens and adults.

Horse Powered Reading combines social-emotional learning with academics. Students see and experience reading with their entire mind, body and emotions by creating metaphors for the skills involved in reading. Research has shown it only takes a few key reading skills combined with motivation, self efficacy/confidence, and persistence, all of which are taught by the horses, to create a rapid growth in learning & reading.

Please like and follow this page for upcoming events and information.

Thank you