BAROOOM!

Our Jumpstart friends never cease to amaze our team members (Team Kindness). The moment we stepped foot into our Jumpstart classroom coming back from winter break, we instantaneously heard “Jumpstart!!!”; a sound that we all missed ever so dearly. The kids still remembered the songs we sing, all eager to go to Center Time, and all so excited to learn and play with us. They even knew how to spell their names perfectly on their name cards! It was such a huge improvement, I was so proud of them! Definitely a warm welcome back to something we all missed so much over the break.

            Recently, our Jumpstart kids switched classrooms in Appletree, which at first was a big change for the children and us. It was a little disorienting to have to accommodate to our surroundings, switch our reading spots, and set up centers in different places than we were used to. But after a couple more sessions, this room became a nice Jumpstart bubble; a place where all of our anxieties were blocked out of. We come into the classroom ready for Jumpstart, ready to read and play with our children, and ready to get our kids excited about all we have in store for them.

            I have recently understood the capacity that our children’s brains have for learning new material, and how much it sticks in their brains. While reading One Dark Night to my Jumpstart friends, I allowed the children to say “BAROOOM” with me when the thunder rolled in the book. It was the first time I ever did that kind of strategy; allowing them to read with me instead of me reading the whole book to them. They instantly loved it. They would sit patiently and listen intently while I read them the book, and couldn’t wait until they could say “BAROOOM” with me. They even said it while they were at Dramatic Play; pretending to be thunder and making a huge thunderstorm like the one in the book. It was amazing to me how quickly they caught on once they felt directly involved in the story. I will definitely use that strategy more often!

            Jumpstart has definitely allowed me to expand on how I interact with children and help them learn. By practicing different strategies while reading and switching classrooms, it has allowed me to be more flexible with how I teach the kids while still teaching them the Jumpstart curriculum. It has definitely allowed the kids to grow as students, and me to grow as a future educator. It’s been quite a journey!

~ Maria Lewis
Corps Member
Team Kindness