She helps kids learn by doing
Learning Center founder helping elementary students in retirement
By Joanne Fox | Posted: Monday, November 10, 2008
Crescent Park pupil Gustavo Orellana Santos raises his hands in triumph after volunteer Rosie Kuehne praises his work in matching upper and lower case letters. (Staff photo by Tim Hynds)
It looked like the kindergartners at Crescent Park Elementary School were playing with blocks. But 6-year-old Ricardo Sanchez was emphatic in describing the activity.
"This is not a game," he said seriously. "We're learning."
His comment brought a smile to the face of volunteer Rosie Kuehne and a clarification.
"Actually, it is a game at which they are working on matching upper- and lower-case letters," she explained, although the praise Kuehne heaped on each student certainly made them feel like they were winning a game.
From walking around and addressing each child by name to getting down on the floor and giving hugs, Kuehne carries on a tradition she started some 30 years ago in her home.
Kuehne established the Learning Center for Creative Children when she wanted an imaginative environment for her then-3-year-old daughter, Jen.
"My son Bob had attended preschool which was all right for him, but I knew Jen needed encouragement in the arts," she explained. "I figured I had been teaching everybody else's kids, why not teach my own?"
In fact, Kuehne's resume reads like a consultant for children's programming at PBS -- 10 years as a first-grade teacher, several more years in the junior- and senior-high levels; two years teaching prospective elementary education teachers at the university level; five years of teaching children's literature as an adjunct at Briar Cliff College; and 21 years of occasional lecturing to teachers on literature and its formative and entertainment values for children.
Add to that a bachelor's degree in Latin and elementary education, a master's degree in English literature and additional credits and courses in early childhood education. She even taught kindergarten in Uruguay while her husband Herb was a Fulbright Scholar there.
So when it came time to "retire" and close the Learning Center for Creative Children in 2006, Kuehne took it easy for a while -- a very short while -- before she came on board on Crescent Park.
"You see all of this hope," she said gesturing around at the four students. "I'm grateful I get to be here. The joy they give me when they try and succeed is the be all of why I'm here."
Kuehne, 74, is a firm believer in learning by doing instead of lecturing.
"You want to learn how to enjoy learning," she observed. "If you tell them it's fun, they'll think it's fun."
The "games" were far more than random activities. They were exercises in numbers and letters and vocabulary and concepts. Kuehne was right in the middle of her young pupils, asking questions, encouraging answers, providing insights.
"We work hard on alphabet, number, color and shape recognition," Kuehne explained. "Those take up precious teacher time, so I began pulling kids out of the classroom to work on those specifics."
Even science has a place in the younger grades, Kuehne said.
"I brought this huge sunflower to school one day -- it was so big, I had to haul it in our truck -- so we could talk about plants," she said. "Another time I brought the pupa of a butterfly which is called a chrysalis and we watched them hatch."
The teachers can't express their gratitude enough.
"Rosie won me over the day she brought the sunflower," stressed first-grade teacher Beth Engle. "She is an absolute gem to have here."
"The kids just love her," added Mary Miller, another first-grade teacher. "And we do, too."
VITA
Name: Rosie Kuehne
Hometown: Saukville, Wis.; moved to Sioux City in 1973
Education: 1951 graduate of St. Joseph High School, Milwaukee; awarded a bachelor's degree from Alverno College, Milwaukee in 1963; earned a master's degree from Loyola University in 1969
Professional: Taught for a number of years; operated the Learning Center for Creative Children for over 27 years, before retiring in 2006
Personal: Married to husband Herb since 1969: two children; two grandchildren and one due in May
How she's making a difference: By volunteering at Crescent Park Elementary School.
"This is not a game," he said seriously. "We're learning."
His comment brought a smile to the face of volunteer Rosie Kuehne and a clarification.
"Actually, it is a game at which they are working on matching upper- and lower-case letters," she explained, although the praise Kuehne heaped on each student certainly made them feel like they were winning a game.
From walking around and addressing each child by name to getting down on the floor and giving hugs, Kuehne carries on a tradition she started some 30 years ago in her home.
Kuehne established the Learning Center for Creative Children when she wanted an imaginative environment for her then-3-year-old daughter, Jen.
"My son Bob had attended preschool which was all right for him, but I knew Jen needed encouragement in the arts," she explained. "I figured I had been teaching everybody else's kids, why not teach my own?"
In fact, Kuehne's resume reads like a consultant for children's programming at PBS -- 10 years as a first-grade teacher, several more years in the junior- and senior-high levels; two years teaching prospective elementary education teachers at the university level; five years of teaching children's literature as an adjunct at Briar Cliff College; and 21 years of occasional lecturing to teachers on literature and its formative and entertainment values for children.
Add to that a bachelor's degree in Latin and elementary education, a master's degree in English literature and additional credits and courses in early childhood education. She even taught kindergarten in Uruguay while her husband Herb was a Fulbright Scholar there.
So when it came time to "retire" and close the Learning Center for Creative Children in 2006, Kuehne took it easy for a while -- a very short while -- before she came on board on Crescent Park.
"You see all of this hope," she said gesturing around at the four students. "I'm grateful I get to be here. The joy they give me when they try and succeed is the be all of why I'm here."
Kuehne, 74, is a firm believer in learning by doing instead of lecturing.
"You want to learn how to enjoy learning," she observed. "If you tell them it's fun, they'll think it's fun."
The "games" were far more than random activities. They were exercises in numbers and letters and vocabulary and concepts. Kuehne was right in the middle of her young pupils, asking questions, encouraging answers, providing insights.
"We work hard on alphabet, number, color and shape recognition," Kuehne explained. "Those take up precious teacher time, so I began pulling kids out of the classroom to work on those specifics."
Even science has a place in the younger grades, Kuehne said.
"I brought this huge sunflower to school one day -- it was so big, I had to haul it in our truck -- so we could talk about plants," she said. "Another time I brought the pupa of a butterfly which is called a chrysalis and we watched them hatch."
The teachers can't express their gratitude enough.
"Rosie won me over the day she brought the sunflower," stressed first-grade teacher Beth Engle. "She is an absolute gem to have here."
"The kids just love her," added Mary Miller, another first-grade teacher. "And we do, too."
VITA
Name: Rosie Kuehne
Hometown: Saukville, Wis.; moved to Sioux City in 1973
Education: 1951 graduate of St. Joseph High School, Milwaukee; awarded a bachelor's degree from Alverno College, Milwaukee in 1963; earned a master's degree from Loyola University in 1969
Professional: Taught for a number of years; operated the Learning Center for Creative Children for over 27 years, before retiring in 2006
Personal: Married to husband Herb since 1969: two children; two grandchildren and one due in May
How she's making a difference: By volunteering at Crescent Park Elementary School.
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