Today was another math day. I found myself at a table with six fourth grade girls who all seemed to be in the same friend group. They were collectively working on two pages of math homework but were all stuck on how to begin. They seemed embarrassed to ask for help, which made me think that collectively they would not ask for help at all. I was quite unsure as to why they would not, but it was very entertaining to watch them sort out who would be the student to ask me for assistance. I believe they thought I was a teacher, but a teacher they were not comfortable with yet who worked the after-school program.
What was most interesting was that they immediately felt comfortable to ask,, after discovering that they needed help, even after deciding who should be the one to ask. For someone that young, it is an incredibly useful tool to have as a student, especially because it is important as they become older students, and can be used all throughout life.
After reviewing the decimal system, the students had finished all their work and began to play “HedBanz”, which was very entertaining to watch because they describe objects differently as a child than an adult would.

Today in class the kids were open to use their creativity and make whatever they wanted to with the materials at hand. Coming from a structured background where you always have something to do at a particular time it was different for me to see the kids use their time in any way they wanted. I noticed that there were gender stereotypes at play. The girls like to work with fabric and make houses while the boys wanted to work with wood and build tools. I’m interested to see if this will continue. I noticed some familiar faces, but the group each week is supposed to be different and varies on what the children choose.

On week 2 of volunteering at BJM Elementary school I returned to the art room and did more coloring with the kindergartners. I recognized the girl that I worked with last week and met some new students as well. I was glad to see that this student was interacting with her peers more.

I spent the entire hour that I was there drawing pictures of fish so that one of the students could “feed” her toy dinosaur named Savage. Spending time with such enthusiastic children, in addition to the two kindergarten teachers who are both wonderful, is a really positive experience which helps me get through my week. 🙂

‘Twas my second week at BJM Elementary,

Overseeing children wielding saws like a sentry.

They had learned a lot in a fortnight,

Like how to connect to a battery right

and how to work a hot glue gun

and how to reattach wires undone.

 

This week was as rewarding as ever,

Helping kids build hovercrafts, fans, whatever;

Pretending that I’ve ever worked with hot glue,

Pretending that I’m not new

to hacking wood and hadn’t forgot to

clamp it — it was a test and I got you–

I guess I have a lot to

learn

 

Hartek, the Bard

My second visit at BJM was as delightful as my first. Though this time, it was very different, as I spent most of the time reading with a lively and intuitive little girl who wore cat ears on top of her red hair. Well, actually it was a headband with cat ears on it and I was very silly for asking her such a question, at least that’s what she told me. As an English major, it’s almost a given that I love to read. And despite my affinity for classic literature, I have always found the category of children’s books as a favorite. Anyhow, I was very excited to sit down and read with her, so when she patted the seat next to her and gave me a big, toothy smile, my heart melted and I knew that my afternoon was going to be one for the books. She introduced herself, rather politely, and then informed me that the book that she was reading was about fables surrounding a mischievous rabbit. I responded enthusiastically, letting her know that I adored stories with rabbits, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and the Tales of Bre’er Rabbit being a few childhood favorites. “Oh, I love rabbits too! They’re very smart! Will you read this with me?” she smiled pleadingly.

We planned to read a page each, but then decided that it would better help the flow of the book if we read whole chapters individually, alternating turns. She was an excellent reader, minding punctuation and using different voices for characters. She would stop occasionally to give me small clarifications, one which included that she read a little funny because she had just lost her two middle bottom teeth, showing them to me proudly. When it was my turn to read, she huddled a little closer and leaned towards the pages. She seemed to really like my reading as she would giggle uncontrollably at certain moments and stopped me several times to ask if we could read together again. But she was also quite frank and attentive, correcting me if I used the wrong punctuation or missed a character’s specific exclamation. She was exceptionally bright and animated. I truly believe that our faces were both beaming as we read to each other. When her step father came to pick her up early, he lingered politely nearby, waiting for us to conclude our fun. She continued to read with ease, occasionally pausing and assuring him that we would be done soon. He would only smile and nod, clearly knowing that we would be reading a while longer. We had just finished reading about how rabbit had accidentally tricked fox, wolf, and bear into chasing him, which made us both laugh heartily, and were discussing how the book’s illustration of the end would have been better with a different scene when it was officially time for her to go.

When she had returned from putting the book away, she looked up at me, and like a little adult, grinned and said, “We’ll finish it next time, alright? Goodbye!” I really cannot wait until next time. She reminded me of two things that are not only generally very important, but are very dear to my heart and to my future aspirations: the grand level of significance that books have in the lives of children and just how crucial it is to sit with a child and read to them as well as have them read to you.

My second week of volunteering at BMJ Elementary School was just as pleasant as the first. This time I played Guess Who with a couple of little girls. They had a blast, even though one of them played the whole game with the faces flipped down, and every turn she would flip each of them up to decide if it was the person they were guessing or not. It was so innocent and pure, it was nice to be reminded there are still things to cherish outside of the structured rules we live under. One boy remembered me from the first week, and we got right back into writing notes back and fourth to each other in his notebook. I also showed the children how magnets can move a compass pin, something they thought was “magic.” It was a fun hour of service and I already cannot wait to see the children again.