Learning About Learning School Materials

Learning about Learning’s involvement in the San Antonio School system meant that the organization had to create and distribute materials to the participating children that aid them in developing new skills and techniques for learning. These materials included workbooks, in which children could write their autobiographies, describe their surroundings, and write poems among many other activities. These materials used in the schools were essential to Learning about Learning’s mission, as they allowed the children to use their creativity to find new methods of learning. 

As seen in the photo, Learning About Learning school materials were designed to make the young students question the world around them and their role within it. On the triangle box are the words “Who tells you how to act?” While participating in these creative activities, LAL materials would encourage students to dig deeper while also engaging with the world around them. 

This document outlines the beginnings of the Learning About Learning program, highlighting its inspirations, objectives, and aspirations. These foundational principles of the Learning About Learning program are reflected in the school materials that it distributed to the children, as the activities aimed to create an understanding of the child’s own self and the world around them. 

This workbook, “Materials for the Child,” asked school children to write about their experiences  as they went about their everyday lives. At the bottom of the first page, text indicated that this workbook could  “become the child’s own autobiography.” Such activities underscore  LAL’s goal to create a personal awareness within each child that would help them orient themselves within their communities. 

This document outlines several activities that teachers might do with the children in their classrooms. These activities include “Pantomime,” and “Open-ended Story” among others. Writing in blue ink on the top right corner of the document, perhaps written by one of the founding members of LAL, indicates that approximately 20 minutes was to be allotted for these activities, illustrating how teachers would use these activities to get the children thinking quickly and critically.