This week in Happy Days it was Road Safety week. for the morning activity the children were doing their handprints in green and red to understand that green means go and red means stop. the ultimate lesson was to always hold someones hand crossing the road. i helped the children to this painting and to also clean up after, it was a very messing job as they stated to high five my face and clothes with the paint. after i was red and green free it was lunchtime. when they had finished we played outside and then sang songs back inside. the children went home singing and with green and red hands.
in the afterschool we had to clean all the shelves in the building which at the beginning didn't go very well as the basin was cracked and leaked all over the floor! when all of the water was cleaned up we quickly went back to cleaning the shelves. the younger children were outside so i was put with them. we played games with them and then we had to sweep up all the leaves in the play area. baking was next and the children were vey excited. they made banana bread while i helped with the process. while it was cooking they coloured in pictures. unfortunelty our day was finished before the banana bread was cooked, but it smelled amazing.
my work experience just kepps getting better and better
I had my second week of work experience this week and it was even better than last week. I felt that I wasn't really a stranger any more and that the children felt more comfortable around me because I had been there before. The first activity was making trees with their hands. I had to trace around each of their hands and then they stuck leaves on to them to make the tree. The children really enjoyed this. For the rest of the morning the children were painting, playing with toys and drawing pictures. I helped them whenever they needed it and when we had to tidy up. The two sides of the room then swapped so I got another set of Montessori and they did the same as the first group. At lunch time I helped anyone that needed things opened or put away. After lunch they children finally got to play outside as the rain had stopped. This was music to both mine and the children's ears! All hell broke loose when they went outside they were running and screaming but enjoying themselves. I played some games with them like What time is it Mr Wolf? and follow the train. They loved this! Unfortunelty it started to rain them so we had to go back inside. The children then got their bags and coats and sang songs until their parents came. It was a very busy morning.
I came back in the afternoon for they after school children but there was another Montessori group on upstairs so I helped out with them. It was a very quiet afternoon as there were only 4 children there and two of them didn't speak English. By the end of the Montessori though the other two children started to talk to me and all in all I enjoyed it. I had a very hand-on day, but a very enjoyable one aswell. Already looking forward to next week!
Yesterday i had my first day of work experience in Happy Days Playschool, Montassori and Afterschool care. I was very excited to start but also a little nervous! I soon realised though that there was nothing to be nervous about. The staff were very kind and helpful and the kids were excellent. I was put in the montassori room with Lynda and Rachel to help them out for the day, the children here are ages 3-4 and they are boys and girls. They all came in at about half 9 bright eyed and ready for a day of playing. They all were very surprised to see a new face but quickly warmed up to me. One of the girls was so excited to see me that she ran back out the door to tell her day there was a new teacher today. The main objectives of the montassori is to texh the children to do things for themselves and to be more independant. They played with learning toys for about an hour and i was also learning as i went. I was trying to remember their names and to play different games with them. I read them stories and did pictures with them. They all wanted me to see their creations and for me to sit beside them. two or three of the boys especially took a shine to me that they were pulling me hands to try and get me to play with them or to show me their buliding creations. after there playing we did some painting with them. i had to make sure they all had paint shirts on them before they began painting. when each of them were finished i had to show them where to leave the paintings to dry. when the tables and chairs were nearly all painted pink, red and blue it was wash up time before lunch. i washed the paint mats and tables while the teachers washed the children (luckily it was wash off paint!) the teacher rang the bell for them to sit down for luch while i put all their lunch bags out in a line. i had to help some of the children with their luches and to clean up after them. beofr they go home they have alittle sing song time. whiel they were in the corner with one of the teacher i was sweeping up the room and putting it back in order. i had huge goodbyes from the children and sayuing ill see you next week! as it was my first day the manager said i could have a half day and start the full day of work next week. this was very kind of her and i thanked her and went home. i thoroughly enjoyed my first day of work experience and im looking forward to the coming weeks!
