Sharing

Today’s special activity for the five year old class was stringing together the clay beads they made yesterday in preparation for their big Mother’s Day Tea, which takes place in about two weeks. The lead teacher called students over one at a time to assemble their bracelet, while the other students worked independently or in small groups on activities of their choice. Another teacher also went around, as I did, to assist the students and make sure that they stayed on task.
Being a new face and a younger student, the students are always coming up to me, saying “will you play with me?” or “Will you help me color this?” It can be hard when there are four or five kids, all pulling you in different directions. Today, especially, I introduced the idea of sharing my time with all of them. I explained that I can’t be in five places at once, but that I would float around the room, sharing my time with all of them. It took a little while for them all to understand this and that asking me several more times wouldn’t help, but they ended up catching on. I did puzzles with two girls, then helped another with coloring, and then worked with a boy on his math/spatial skills. And in the end, it all worked out. When I go back on Monday, we’ll see if they remember or whether I’ll be greeted by a group of enthusiastic kids all wanting my attention. I’m guessing it’ll be the latter, but at least they are excited. We will see what happens come Monday.

Circle Time

Today was my first experience with “circle time.” Going to the preschool right after C block and staying only for the lunch block before returning to class, I came in expecting to not do very much, figuring that the whole time would be recess and lunch, as it is for the toddler and transition class. Today, however, I worked with a class of older students who have a different schedule.

When I arrived, the students were independently working on a variety of activities, from counting boards to workbooks to a game of memory. Then we had circle time. We opened with singing a few short songs. There is a “Good Morning” song that they open with every day, but the children are also learning some special songs for the Mother’s Day Tea that they host each year to honor their mothers. After singing these songs, we went over what today’s date is and used counting and subtraction skills to determine how many days are left in the school year. We talked about the morning’s activities and the importance of being friendly and kind to one another.

In order to dismiss the students to lunch, the teacher would say (for example), “Emily and a friend whose name starts with “ch” may go to lunch.” Then Emily would have to find that person and they could go to lunch. This struck me as a really good way to stagger the lunch rush. Going in pairs prevented the group from running over to lunch, and the kids also had to work on their phonetics without really thinking about it.

The more I thought about it, I realized that is what a lot of the Montessori activities seem to do. They get the kids to learn so many different things without really knowing it. Just like finding a partner to go to lunch with, all the tasks are fun, but target a certain lesson or skill, whether it was motor coordination, letters, numbers, or something else.

I’ve come to find that there is a lot more thought behind all the activities than I initially thought.

Vacation's Over...

Welcome back! Just like us, Monday was the kids’ first day back after a week of vacation. The preschool tries to follow the local public schools’ schedules concerning vacations, holidays, and snow days, so they were also on vacation last week. I had hoped to talk to some of the older students about their vacations, but did not get the opportunity to do that on Monday. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be working with the older group of kids, and I’ll be able to follow up with them on how their vacations went!

Because I have class C Block every day, I’ve found that I tend to miss the circle-time morning lessons a lot. Monday was no exception. The only free time I had to go to the preschool was right around lunchtime, but I made the most of the time I had, working with the toddler and transition classes again.

At recess, I kept an eye out over the kids, who were all very excited to try out a new plastic car, which was a great addition to recess activities. After recess, we all went inside for lunch. The kids are very much self-sufficient and well behaved, so I sat and talked with them, helping to open containers when they needed it. Most of the children leave school after lunch, but a few stay for the afternoon. I read a few books and played with toy cars before naptime. One of the hardest things about naptime is getting the very youngest children to sleep. Sound travels quickly, as the whole school is basically in one hall, divided up into three “rooms,” so its really important that everyone stays quiet. While we separated the two youngest ones, they still enjoyed “talking” (should I say babbling) to each other through the makeshift wall. After calming them down though, we were able to get them to sleep.

Despite being there for primarily recess, lunch, and naptime, I did learn a little about accident reports. At recess, one of the little girls got her finger pinched between a plastic car and the bench. One of the teachers got her all cleaned up; she had a cut on her finger and the nail was bent back a bit. However, she was unhappy enough that it warranted the teacher to file an accident report, explaining what happened, where the accident took place, and what care was given for the injury. I hadn’t really thought that such seemingly little things would require paperwork, but looking back it makes sense.

Tomorrow I will be able to spend a little more time at the school in the afternoon, so I am looking forward to helping out in the classroom a bit more.

Always Something New

Today, I was with the older group of kids, mainly four and five year olds. I arrived early this morning, so I got to see all the children being dropped off. Most all of them were so excited to be there, and quickly found an activity to start on right away.
I was somewhat surprised how quickly the kids found something to do. Whether it was painting, completing a puzzle, building with blocks, or playing with the counting beads, everyone settled in so nicely. The main teacher also took a few students aside to show them an activity that was designed for them. When they arrived, she greeted them and said, “I have an activity for you!” This hands-on style of learning really seems to keep the kids engaged and sincerely interested in what they’re doing.
Throughout the classroom, there are a variety of different activities neatly organized on shelves. During the week, the teachers change some of these, taking out things that have been there for a while and adding new ones to spark the students’ interests. The teacher then encourages the kids to look around for the new activities, kind of like a scavenger hunt. I was going around the classroom with one of the younger boys, asking him which activity he wanted to do next and which was his favorite. As he was pointing out all the activities that were new in the past week, I started to realize how much work it takes to prepare all the activities and constantly involve new ones in the curriculum.
As my internship continues, I will likely remain with the older group of students. Having only been there for a few hours at a time due to the classes I have at school, I will be interested in seeing how their whole day comes together, from morning activities to circle time to lunch, recess, and their other daily activities. As I start to piece together their typical school-day, I will keep you updated!

The First Few Days

After a few days of working at the preschool, I already have a lot of friends there! Even though I’ve been moving between age levels and classrooms, the kids run up to me, wanting to play or color or just give me a hug. They’ve only really met me once, but they look up to me as well as the two other high school students working there and are excited to see some new faces.

As I mentioned, I have been switching between classrooms, helping out as needed, especially with some of the teachers being out sick. As the woman in charge told me, there’s always something that can be done. I have spent some time with the toddler/transition class – the youngest of kids there – as well as working with a group preparing for kindergarten next year, mainly four and five year olds.

With the youngest students, I’ve only been there towards the end of their day. At recess, I watch to make sure everyone’s playing nicely together and nobody falls asleep or tries to run away. After recess they all have lunch, and I helped out in general, opening their Tupperware containers, getting forks and spoons, etc. They are really quite self-sufficient and very talkative as well, even with the youngest kids there is never a dull moment. After cleaning up, most of the youngest kids leave for the day, while the others take a nap. I helped them to get their blankets and calm down before going to sleep.

Working with the older group was different, and was the first group that I worked with during “school time” rather than lunch or recess. We read a book, practiced writing, and spent some time both coloring and working with letters and numbers in workbooks. They are all at different places in the books and work independently, but all were engaged in their tasks.

As my schedule permits, I hope to be at the preschool during more of the morning and afternoon “working” hours so that I can really be engaged with the kids and learn about what they are doing.

The Project

As my senior year is winding down, I'll be spending a good deal of time not at my high school, but instead at a local preschool where I first attended school. Through a senior project known as S.C.O.R.E., I'll be spending fifteen hours a week at the preschool until early May, when I'll start working there full time, at thirty hours a week. The ages of the children I'll be working with range from infants to kindergartners, and I will be going back and forth between the various classrooms, doing whatever tasks need to be accomplished.

The school is a Montessori school, so it is run slightly differently from your typical school. The Montessori Method of teaching is based on the idea of freedom within limits, which I'll describe in more detail in later posts. Working in this setting, I hope to gain insight into the Montessori Method of teaching as compared with more traditional methods.

Before I talk about my day to day work, though, I wanted to make at least one post that explains some recent happenings. With all the rain we've received lately, lots of people's basements have been flooded. The preschool is no exception. And while they are up and running again, the classrooms have had to be moved upstairs into the church's main function hall. Classes are continuing as usual now, but there are still a lot of things being sorted out. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what it's like on the first day!