I love the kids at Cedar Tree. As soon as they see us come through the door, smiles brighten their faces, they wave excitedly at us and gleefully shout, “Jumpstart is here! Jumpstart is here!” That is definitely the best way to be greeted at 9:30 in the morning. Most exiting of all is their desire to be a part of Jumpstart and learn the Jumpstart way.

As soon as they start Welcome, they cannot wait to point out the letters in their names. They get so overjoyed when they see some of those same letters in their friends’ names. I have two quieter kids in my group so it is harder to get them to talk, but I try to get them involved by asking one of their friends next to them to point out letters in their name and in the quieter kids’ names. Sometimes, that will get the quieter ones to speak up about the components in their own names.

Once we began Read to Reconstruct, they got all excited again. They absolutely love Oonga Boonga. Therefore, it was not too hard to keep them engaged. However, when they did end up getting off topic (for example, one was telling me about his Spiderman Halloween costume), I was able to address and redirect. They also loved the word “Oonga Boonga.” One kid in particular would whisper it to Baby Louise, so I would flip to the page in which Daniel is whispering those words in Baby Louise’s ear. I also have a selective mute in my group so I asked him a few close- ended questions to which he not only responded, but also expanded upon his yes or no answers. I could not always hear what he said, but I was very happy that he was actually talking. Overall, Read to Reconstruct went well.

Circle Time was a bit more hectic than last well, All the kids wanted to sit in the middle(rather than o their letters), but the teacher’s aide also helped us out. Once we began singing “If you’re happy,” most of the kids were focused. They lost some focus with “Ten Little Fingers” but we were able to (for the most part) redirect their attention to Loren.

This time, art (my Center Time station) went much smoother. I have five smocks this time so a) the kids were able to remain relatively paint-free and b) there were only five kids at the station (as opposed to Monday when there were about eight or nine). I loved hearing them describe to me what colors they were making. They were so excited to make different colors with only three different colors. I can’t wait to go back on Monday!

-Ariel Rothman