|
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is the Teddy Bears On The Go® program?
2. How does Teddy Bears On The Go® work?
3. How many years has this program been running?
4. Does the program require a lot of work?
5. Do the students get to keep the bears if they are donated?
6. Do the bears come back to the school at the end of the year?
7. What if the bears do not all return to the students?
8. Is this program only available to teachers?
9. Who else is this program available to?
10. What is meant by “educational well being of him/herself”?
11. How does this program benefit the students?
12. How does this program benefit the teachers?
13. How does this program benefit the parents?
14. How does this program benefit the grandparents?
15. How does this program benefit other travelling companions?
16. Is it easy to get started?
17. Is there a newsletter?
1. What is the Teddy Bears On The Go® program?
Teddy Bears On The Go® is an approach to learning where students are enthusiastic about their own education, engaged in all aspects of the curriculum, and motivated to keep learning.
Back to top
2. How does Teddy Bears On The Go® work?
Basically, students receive/obtain/get a bear and name it. It is put in a teddy bear travelling tote, along with a journal, and sent home from school at a predetermined time in the fall. A covering letter is sent to the parents outlining the project and asking them to help get the bear on its way. Throughout the year, postcards, e-mails, and treasures are received. Students read their postcards, e-mails, and later, the journals to their classmates. All destinations are recorded on a world map. At the end of the year, students celebrate the teddy bear journeys by putting together a presentation for the school body. During the evening, there is a display where family and friends can come and view all the bears and memorabilia.
Back to top
3. How many years has this program been running?
Although the concept is not unique, the Teddy Bears On The Go® has been running in the classroom for 5 years.
Back to top
4. Does this program require a lot of work?
During the initial stages of getting the program up and running, and until the bears start their journey, it takes some effort to coordinate and put things in motion. Over the course of the year, minimal management is required to collect memorabilia and record travel destinations. At the end of the year, energy is needed to showcase the teddy bears travels’. But, this would be a personal preference in terms of how the information is presented to the school body.
Back to top
5. Do the students get to keep the bears if they are donated?
Yes, they do. Students are asked to wait until the end of the Teddy Bears On The Go® evening display at the end of the year, before taking the bear and its memorabilia home.
Back to top
6. Do the bears come back to the school at the end of the year?
For the most part, the bears have returned faithfully, each and every year. There have been a couple of years, where a half dozen or so bears and/or components of the original package were missing.
Back to top
7. What if the bears do not all return to the students?
Once a bear has left the “den”, it is anticipated that the bears will return. Putting out energy about the possibility of the bear not returning is usually met with a statement indicating that they are expected to return.
Back to top
8. Is this program available only to teachers?
No, this program is not restricted to teachers.
Back to top
9. Who else is this program available to?
This program is available to any person who is interested in the educational well being of a child or him/herself. Individuals, institutions, and organizations are free to purchase any number of kits.
Back to top
10. What is meant by “educational well being of him/herself”?
There are benefits to administering the program in the classroom, or independently through home-schooling, or just by taking part as a travelling companion to the teddy bear journeys. There are also benefits to taking a bear on a travel vacation, without having a child’s name behind the bear. Please read the answers to questions 12, 13, 14, and 15 for further information.
Back to top
11. How does this program benefit the students?
Students develop and enhance their language skills through focussed reading, writing, and oral communication. They develop a sense of pride of ownership, community and increased self-confidence as a result of communicating about their bears’ many adventures. Students develop oral presentation skills and gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the world and the global environment.
Back to top
12. How does this program benefit the teachers?
This program provides for an integrated approach to the curriculum that actively involves and engages the students in their learning and the learning of others. Students are motivated to learn. The knowledge and skills they acquire are relevant and real. [For example, the thank you notes sent to real people who donated the bears, or made the teddy bear traveling totes.]
Back to top
13. How does this program benefit the parents?
Parents experience increased interaction with their child, additional communication between the school and the home, a sense that their child is learning in an interactive, fun way, to name a few. Often parents learn about cities and villages that they never knew existed. Parents are grateful for the increased attention that their child is giving to his/her learning.
Back to top
14. How does this program benefit the grandparents?
Grandparents (look for Puffy’s story) take an active role in this program and have been instrumental in establishing Pen Pals with students in other countries, providing detailed information about the teddy bear travels, and securing many treasures and memorabilia for their student. A sense of excitement about being able to contribute to the education of their grandchild/or student in the classroom is evident. The teddy bears also provide a focal point for discussion during the grandparents’ travels.
Back to top
15. How does this program benefit other traveling companions?
What this program has provided over the course of the 5 years is a sense of community and desire to contribute to the education of a child. Travelers are able to view their travel from a different perspective, since they commit to recording the teddy bears’ journeys. This perspective provides a deeper understanding of the destination, and provides a written record that might not otherwise have been chronicled.
Back to top
16. Is it easy to get started?
Yes, it is easy to get started. By purchasing a Teddy Bears On The Go® toolkit, it provides all the necessary information and documentation to get the program started.
The toolkit includes the bear, its journal, traveling teddy bear tote, and instructions. Resources are available through The Teddy Bear Store.
Back to top
17. Is there a newsletter?
Yes, there is a newsletter. It is called, The Teddy Bear Chronicles. Sign up is easy. Fill out the form in the upper right hand corner of any web page on this web site. Here is the link to The Teddy Bear Chronicles.
|
