March 12th: Claudia

Preschool hours are what I look forward to every week. My Tuesday mornings are punctuated by a chorus of little voices calling out "Miss Claudia!" and running up for hugs, which is an incredible way to start a day, and I would recommend it to anyone. I really love giving these kids some one-on-one attention during Center Time that the teachers sometimes are unable to give them when trying to handle the entire classroom. I also get to help out during lunch and snack time in managing the chaos that is 11 hungry four-year-olds. I love getting to know each child individually and understand each of their strengths and areas that need strengthening. I also have the amazing opportunity to work in this class with children on the autism spectrum, with many different IEPs (individual education plans), and some non-verbal children. This mixed classroom full of neurotypical and non-neurotypical children has taught me so much and I've really fallen in love with each and every child in this class. For part of my service learning project, I'm helping to create an organizational tool to help the teachers organize center time and help hold the children accountable for their activities. I really feel like my presence in the classroom is a help to the teachers and is a fun new experience and adult to interact with for the children.