Consistency

                  My experience so far with Jumpstart has been a positive one. During the training, I was learning a lot about how to work with the children, but it was not until I actually met the kids that made it all worthwhile. I had not expected my first session to be actual fun. However, as I worked with the kids during center time, I found myself having as much fun as they were. From day one, I was impressed with how smart the kids were. Many of them could already recognize their name and could identify some of the letters in their name.

Another thing that I had not been prepared for was how open the kids would be so instantly.  Within minutes of meeting me they were sharing things that were important to them: if they were on “green” in conduct or new clothes or school supplies they had received, all the way to stories about their families and friends. This made it a lot easier to build a relationship with the children and my attachments to them formed quicker than I expected.

Before we actually went in the classroom, I heard how consistency was an important part to the program and the kids. However, it became a personal realization just recently. The classroom that my team started with had children in it who was already receiving Jumpstart. In consequence, we had to change the classroom that we gave Jumpstart. The previous Jumpstart session we had was strictly to come in and meet the kids and the teacher, as well as see the classroom. What I found to be surprising in that visit was that the kids, who had been in my old Jumpstart session as well, had expectations of the Jumpstart structure after only 3 session plans completed. One child asked “Are we painting in Center Time today?” caught off guard by the question I responded “No we don’t have center time today.” Not understanding she asked “Then what book did you bring?” When I informed her that I did not have a book either, she asked “Then what are we doing today?” I simply said, “I am here to just say hi and play with you today.” Apparently this wasn’t an acceptable concept to her because she immediately got further confused and exclaimed “Why are you here then?!” This conversation was truly a testament to the structure that the kids had quickly adapted to. 

It is conversations like that, when I truly get to see the child’s personality come through and learning take place, that make me look forward to more sessions with the kids. I expect to have many more memorable conversations like this as I move forward with the children. 

~Candace Hunt

Corps member

Team Learning