Week 1

            This week was my first week volunteering at Starke Elementary for the summer. I am working with the Voluntary Pre-K program (VPK). The students are four and five years old and are entering kindergarten in the Deland elementary schools in the fall. It was great to be back in the classroom after about a month off. The students are wonderful and full of energy, which can be a little exhausting at times.  There are about 18 students in the class (we are hoping that a few more show up next week) who have a wide range of social and academic abilities. Some of the students do not know any English, some students have never been away from their parents before, and some already know the letter sounds and can do simple addition.  The majority of the students are still getting used to the classroom setting- having to listen to the teachers and not being able to do whatever they want whenever they want.

Right now our main goal is to get the students used to being in a school setting. The students have had a lot of time to play and interact with each other and the teachers. Staring next week more academic skills will be focused on, such as learning the sounds of the letters, how to write letters and their names, and basic math skills (counting, patterns, shapes, etc.). During this first week we were focused on allowing the students to adjust. A few of the students cried on the first day (one cried all day for the first two or three days- I felt so bad for her!) because they missed their parents, but by the end of the week only one child got upset during the day.  The students are also starting to become comfortable with each other and becoming friends. One of our little boys LOVES to play in the housekeeping area; yesterday he brought a Snow White costume to wear while playing. It was amazing to see his interactions with the other students during that time. One little boy declared that he was “Snow White’s” prince charming and was very protective and sweet. This was a change in character from that child who had been misbehaving and acting very angry and aggressive earlier in the day. The other students also joined in becoming other princesses and acting out many different scenes from Disney movies. It was great to see the students interacting like this without any adults influencing them. I’m excited to see how the children develop and change throughout the summer both academically and socially!