Learning Lab Idaho

Have a little time, as little as an hour a week? Want to join a community that believes in the power of literacy?! Come join us as a volunteer tutor! We are looking for volunteers for the following days/times/locations:

Monday or Wednesday evenings at the Downtown Boise Library** or our Garden City location (**most needed!)

Tuesday or Thursday mornings at our Garden City location

Thursday mornings or Monday/Wednesday evenings on ZOOM

Interested? Email: [email protected] OR call 208-344-1335

In case you didn't believe us when we said that our educators and volunteer tutors work closely together: apparently coordinating lessons AND wardrobes!

As we came to the end of our summer programs last week, we celebrated a successful and fun-filled few months. We have seen adults and children make both big strides and small steps with English fluency and literacy, celebrated tests passed to obtain GED's, and are recognizing new American Citizens! Perhaps just as important, we have watched our students get to know one another, becoming friends and growing more connected to their community. We couldn't have done this without our AMAZING and COMMITTTED crew of volunteers and the many community partnerships we hold dear. (, , , Delta Dental of Idaho and --THANK YOU!) We thought the perfect end to a great summer of classes, and a great reward for weeks of hard work, would be a fieldtrip to the park (and splash pad!) with some mini-Olympics Learning Lab style.

💛💛We are celebrating a new US Citizen today! Hooray! Another example of the hard work and perseverance of our students, the commitment of our volunteer tutors and the dedication of our educators. 💛💛

Hooray! It floats! This week has been full of Olympic themed learning and activities. In the spirit of the Paris Olympics and boats on the Seine, children, working with their parent(s), designed and built their own boats during PACT (Parent and Child Together) time. They thought through what might float successfully (or just look cool!), engineered and built them, and set them to sail. This was so much more than just creating a boat, it required following instruction in English, design thinking, learning how to manipulate materials and conversation and coordination in English between parent and child. And for the littlest learners who splashed around in the water, a sensory learning experience supporting their brain development and gross motor skills.

Our current summer program theme is Olympics and today we celebrated by playing word games with Olympic-themed words. Thank you to one of our volunteer tutors who brought in croissants to round out the vibe!💛

Thank you (again!) for making another trip over here to Learning Lab to teach us about oral health! We always learn new things when you visit! We 💛 our community partners!

Remember Teri Jo? We featured her on our end-of-year fundraising cards last year, she was studying for her GED. We are SO pleased to announced that she just recently passed her final subject and has earned her GED! Learning Lab’s educators designed a personalized plan for Teri Jo, including confidence building, test-taking skills, and academic content. She formed strong relationships with her volunteer tutors, who were among the first to consistently support her. Even when she faced setbacks, her tutors persisted, using new approaches designed by Learning Lab educators. Teri Jo’s journey exemplifies the strength, hope, and commitment required to build a new future and her resilience from a lifetime of survival became a strength she could rely on. Not only has she earned her GED, but also her certificate to operate heavy machinery and is now interviewing for jobs. We couldn’t be happier for her! CONGRATS, Teri Jo! You are an inspiration to us, and we are so proud of you!

We are SO grateful for our partnership and collaboration with . We hold an hour class twice a week with some of their newest employees, Desert Industries provides the break time as well as the meeting spaces to hold the classes, which makes it nice and convenient for the students! Thank you, for your generosity!

Thank you, Garden City Police Department - Idaho for spending your morning with us. Our students--young and adult--had lots of questions and we are thankful for your time! The highlight, at least for the children, was sitting in the police cars with free reign to push all the buttons, talk through the radio and sound the sirens! ☺

We 💛 our collaboration with Idaho Foodbank. They come each week and teach our Healthy Families class a new recipe. The parent and child cook together, learn English together and then enjoy what they prepared! This week - veggie tacos!

We're enjoying the cool mornings while we can, and finding fun indoor activities during these hot, hot afternoons! Stay cool out there everyone. 💛💛

Wrapping up our Math & Money session with some money-themed board game fun!

Thanks to our community of supporters and incredible volunteer tutors, we are able to provide personalized education for our students. This is critical for many of our students, and is especially impactful for those studying for GED or the US Citizenship exam. Having one-on-one tutoring enables us to instruct at the student's pace, ensuring they find success in an unrushed, comfortable learning environment.

So much laughter coming out of the classroom today -- we have some very competitive students (and volunteers!)! We played a fierce game of Idaho trivia, learning about our population, deepest lakes, number of universities, etc.

Wow! Thank you @ for believing in, and supporting, the mission of Learning Lab. Through First Interstate Bank's Believe in Local grant program, they are awarding $25,000 grants to 40 nonprofit organizations across their 14-state footprint—and we are one of the lucky recipients!💛

First Interstate employees were asked to nominate a local nonprofit organization they are engaged with to receive funding that can help drive community-wide impact. From over 550 nominations, 40 were selected as the most deserving organizations.

Another big thanks to our friends at for leading this week's activities with the older kids during our "Math & Money" theme! Yesterday, we learned about businesses and how they can serve our communities and today, students imagined their very own business, designed their product and then presented to the group.

We are thankful for the employees at who volunteered their time to do some much needed painting here at Learning Lab! Thank you! 💛💛

Having fun during Nature Week, Part 2! We've been playing, painting and we recently took a nature walk and gathered materials and media which we made unique collages with.

Yesterday, we took a field trip to The MK Nature Center, a great place to visit as we continue to explore the theme of this current session, 'Nature'. This was the first time visiting The Nature Center for many of the students, and is a wonderful spot they can return with family and friends!

Classes are back in session! This week's theme for Family Literacy is Nature and today we learned about insects and pollinators. Our educators do a wonderful job of incorporating movement, teamwork and creativity into each day--making learning FUN!