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.
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