Lessons for Success

When I looked at session six and saw that dramatic play was shopping for a birthday party, I knew it would be easy. The girls love the idea of birthday parties especially when their birthday was closely approaching. The enjoyed reading A Letter to Amy which consisted of a boy, Peter, inviting a girl to his party. I did less materials creation than I normally do because I knew how much their imagination thrived even when there was little to use for play. Obviously this was not enough to have the greatest birthday party or shopping event, and my team and I revamped all of the materials for that session. Through this, I learned some lessons for success as a Jumpstart Corp member.

Lesson one: do not be afraid to ask for help. Within a span of four hours we worked on materials for three different sessions. They looked awesome, and we were able to bond as a team. It’s important to bring in materials that we could be proud of and the children love. The materials complement the curriculum and without high quality material we would be doing a disservice to the children.  Working with others on materials brings together a myriad of ideas and extra hands to put together materials, so there is no real downside to working on materials with your team.

Lesson two: Even when you think you’re doing enough, step it up. There is nothing the girls love more than us acting silly. When we step out our comfort zone and read with enthusiasm they pay more attention to the book. When we bring in a lot of materials that are great they have more fun. They loved wearing the birthday hats that ranged in colors and design. Shopping for the birthday supplies was a blast, and they had fun carrying their own “money” that they would spend on their supplies. The best moment was when they were baking the cake together, and they agreed on the cake being “funny chocolate.”

The kids had the time of their life pretending to shop for all the supplies needed to have a birthday party. Without putting in time and effort for this session, they would not have had as great of a time as they did. The children we are with are precocious and absorb everything that they come into contact with, so we need to constantly have the mentality of whatever we have it can be better. I definitely know now, more than ever, that the materials you have make the experience for the children a lot better. 

~ Iashai Stephens
Corps Member
Team Courage