My entire experience with Jumpstart seems to center around this learning curve. I am still at that point in my Jumpstart experience where my team is rotating centers for the first time, and I feel like the initial craziness leads to the second class where I learn from the first experience and make the center so much better. Dramatic Play seems like a particular learning experience that is almost like a rite of passage for a Corps Member. There is a lot of terror leading up to it, and it’s very crazy during the center, but afterward there is a lot to learn from it. My second Dramatic Play session went so much better than my first Dramatic Play session, and I felt more capable as a Corps Member after my second session. In my second session I had prepped more materials and changed the format of the center and to make it a lot more engaging for the students and fun for everyone involved. Even in centers like reading, I felt a lot more confident and able after improving in my second session; my reading was more involved and exciting than before. The trend makes me excited about what will keep happening to my centers and readings.

Not to mention it has just been amazing to work with the students. They are hilarious and make me smile so much that sessions calm me down. When I was in reading one time, a normally calm student got so excited about one of the books he yelled, “READ THE WORDS!!!!!!!!!!” And each student in my reading group has told me that, yes, they all have two tigers at home, not toy tigers like the toy crocodile in Peter’s Chair that we were talking about, but real tigers.

-Angela Phillips 

Hello! My name is Bethany Schroeder and I am a freshman here at AU. As a freshman, there are many firsts coming my way, one of which being my first session as a corps member at Jumpstart. I knew I wanted to be involved in Jumpstart because I love children and wanted to surround myself with them, but no amount of this desire could have fully prepared myself for the chaos that is a classroom session with 20 3-year olds all wanting some kind of attention. 

However, a first session is not expected to be easy by any means. Not even a second, third, or fourth session is expected to be easy. That is part of the fun and the challenge of working with these young children. You never know what they will say or do, and you will never have a clear cut vision for how each day will go. This is a reason I am excited for sessions to come, to learn valuable skills such as patience and management from these kids while simultaneously teaching them valuable tools such as phonics. The Jumpstart experience mutually provides lessons to both parties, a rewarding concept of the program of which I am eager to see more of unfold.

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

The Meet and Greet

I was really excited to go into the classroom for the meet and greet with the children. We had thoroughly planned to read a book first, in a circle time manner, and then break into smaller groups to draw pictures of our favorite foods. I was a little nervous with how they would react to us, especially during circle time. But to my surprise, the children were extremely well behaved and very open to talking to us. I, for sure, thought that we would have a few extremely shy children, and although we did initially find a few quitter than others, once you expressed interest in what they were drawing they really opened up. 

I will admit that a level of awkwardness did exist among us core members when we were sitting on the carpet.  We did not originally seem comfortable interacting and redirecting the children’s attention. But I equate this with us being unfamiliar with the children, and their personalities. I think as times and sessions begin we will develop and understanding of each child’s interests and ticks. I noticed that the children that I was grouped off with were very interested in holding a conversation with me. I felt like all the core members were doing a good job of engaging with both the extremely talkative children, and the more so quiet one.  Overall the children seemed very excited to see us there, and I am hopeful and positive for this upcoming year in the classroom.

-Sinead Brennan

What a great week!

Yesterday was Team Curiosity’s first day in the classroom, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Some things did not go exactly as planned; a corps member was absent, we forgot some materials, and our Smarttrip cards for the Metro ran a little low, but it was so worth it.

Unfortunately, I missed the team planning meeting prior that discussed session 1 in great detail, but my team made it very comfortable to me when we got to the school. We were all tired, but it was rejuvenating to see the children as they read along with Oonga Boonga, or participate in center time with open minds.

I was in charge of art, so we were using the primary colors to make new colors, and the children were having so much fun. They get to express themselves and learn at the same time, and nothing could make me happier to see their smiling faces as they showed me their creations.

After class, we cleaned the materials and reviewed for next session and now we know what we have to do for next time. I know we will work a little harder, prep a little more in depth, and wake up a little more energetically; for now we know the ends justify the means. As we finish our J is for Jumpstart books, and prepare for the second part of session 1, we know what we have to look forward to, and we know that it will be worth it. I am grateful for this experience, and I can’t wait to see the children again.

-Jake Jaehne