My Jumpstart Connection

I finally made my jumpstart connection. I knew I was helping out but I didn’t really see how this work truly correlated with the success of an older child. But a few weeks ago, I finally figured it out.

I know this makes sense and I know we were told this in training but no one really stops to think about it until they are in the situation. I had a 4 year old at my writing station who could not write the letter "C". He really wanted to get it right. I tried to help guide his hand, have him trace dots, have him trace over a capital "C" to practice the motion, to explain that he was very close but had it just a bit backwards- but he could not do it. The teacher came over and tried to help but was struggling as well so she moved on to help other students at a different station. For a minute I thought, "that's ok he will get it eventually, let's just move on to what he is good at." But then I realized that this was the connection. This is how children fall behind. It starts when they are 4 and can't write the letter C and it gradually gets worse as they are pushed through the public school system never able to read at grade level. When I got back to my dorm room and told my roommate about my day she told me that she had a fifth grader in DC Reads ask her what the letter “W” was. He got all the way to fifth grade without knowing what a “W” was. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t know this letter, and it wasn’t the four-year-old’s fault that he could not write the first letter of his name.

It took a few weeks to make this realization, but my entire outlook on Jumpstart completely changed after this day. I love when children tell me about new rhyming words they have found since last session. I also feel like a total celebrity while walking through the halls the preschool. The students, teachers and staff love Jumpstart and so do I.  

~Christine Asetta

Corps member

Team Dedication