Amanda's Reflective Blog #1

As a vital portion of my English 102 class we participated in a volunteer project through an agency- Service Learning. They have a collection of organizations that need volunteers, and I chose to invest my time at Head Start: Friends of Children and Families, Inc. I did not know much about their agency because I had never heard of them before. The only thing I knew was that they provided childcare services, and that I would be working with the children as well.

Orientation really explained what Head Start was all about, and more importantly, their values. When we arrived at orientation the Director told us to put all of our stuff on the back table. They later discussed the importance of not bringing bags/purses, cell phones, or even water bottles into the classroom. This is because all of the children who attend Head Start are from low-income families. Many of them are not able to have the simple things we take for granted. Like the water bottle, for example. She also mentioned that children have the tendency to want what others have. So if I bring in a water bottle, the children may want a water bottle like that. This topic ties into keeping equality in the classroom.

The biggest topic discussed, however, was ensuring our attention was focused on the children. As one of the orientation leaders said, coming to Head Start for the children is like going to prom, or out to dinner for us. It is their “big event” they look forward to. Therefore, they want all volunteers and teachers to really focus on the children and not become distracted with other things, like cell phones.

Turning everything into a learning experience is also a main goal. Teaching manners, social skills, and education can be done with every activity the children do. So they want us to always talk about what we are doing and transform something like just eating into learning the names and tastes of food, as well as how to act at meal time.

At this point I wonder how the teacher-child interactions are really played out, and how teachers handle children when they misbehave. I would love to see how they manage these confrontations. Due to the fact they are funded by the government, I also wonder about the curriculum the teachers teach and how they can integrate so much learning into just 4 hours a day.

There are not areas of concern for me right now. I have worked at previous child care facilities before, so I feel I will be able to fall right into the flow of the classroom very easily. I also feel I will be able to communicate with the children very well. I am really excited to be able to work with children again, and I love how this environment to so strongly focused on the children and helping them improve themselves in many different aspects.