Week #5

Success! Well the long-anticipated wait has finally come, and our open house of the children’s program was a success. We arrived at 8am and the children were expected at 9:15 and it may have been the longest hour. My feelings and emotions were overflowing, and questions flooded my brain all revolving around the success of this day. The parents were welcoming and caring, and all the children were excited to join us and play. The children ranged in aged the youngest being 11 months and the oldest was three, providing us with all different developmental ranges. They were quick to find the centres that interested them and for many they remained there for quiet sometime validating that we had provided rich provocations.

 I was down in the kitchen when they first arrived so when I came upstairs many of the students were paired up with children already. I noticed a girl sitting at the colouring centre with her mom. I sat down at on one of the chairs that barley held me and introduced myself. Almost instantly her mom’s phone rang, and she excused herself leaving Skyler and myself to talk. We spoke of her drawings, but I could notice her eyes were wandering. “Is there something else you would like to explore”, I asked her. Instantly she told me she wanted to play with the blocks. We headed over and at first, she grabbed one and then another until she had stacked blocks on top of each other multiple times. I asked her what she was building, “trees for my horses to jump over”, she replied. It didn’t take long before she told me about her horses she had at home and describe in great detail how she helps to care for them. The connection was almost instant and as other students came over, she greeted them with a smile, but few words were spoken. The rapport had been made and instantly I felt all my worries fade away.

I feel proud and confident with the way myself and my peers carried ourselves with both the children and their families. I believe we all made some connections and our initial set up was both inviting and grasped the children interests. Besides all the good, I mentally noted areas that worked and areas that need to be visited. The cons weren’t bad but room for improvement are there and after the children left, we had time to reflect and address any concerns and changes. The positive criticism we all agreed on was areas for growth and the different perspectives were positive and enlightening. I look forward to next week and can’t wait to apply some of the changes and observations into the next gathering. I am thrilled to grow with this group of children and excited what the future journey has in store.