Milam Elementary
In the spring of 1971, Milam Elementary in the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) pre-piloted parts of the LAL curriculum. The following fall, Milam and six other SAISD elementary schools implemented the full curriculum across 4th through 6th grade classrooms. This partnership took many forms, such as teacher training courses, parent/family programming, and direct LAL programming in the classroom.
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.
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.
The curriculum and workbooks that were developed for SAISD reflected the discoveries from working with the school children. Workbooks included songs, poems, and collage art to communicate their messages of creativity and self-expression with students. Furthermore, the workbooks included student art and photographs to personalize education so that students could see themselves and their classmates reflected in the curriculum.