Day 12

My experiences at PSP have really shaped my views on education and childcare. I think this was possibly my last week in the Infant/Toddler section, and I will possibly be moving to another area of PSP this coming week. My summer schedule is coming up fast and I will not be able to go in on Mondays any more. However, maybe I could stop in on the weekends or try volunteering somewhere else on the weekends? I will have to think about it some more. Quite possibly, perhaps my time is done at PSP? Although, they do need the help!
Any-who, last Monday was entertaining. I love helping with the kids. They brightened my dark weekend and even during the gloomy weather I found solace. When I arrived, there were babies everywhere again. It is getting more challenging for them because many of the other volunteer's time at PSP is also coming to an end. The college semester is pretty much over and the students do not need any more volunteer hours. Therefore, the volunteer numbers are low. However, since I am just doing this for fun, I have the option to help them.
One thing I tried with two of the infant girls was place them within reach of each other on a play mat. I put toys in front of them and observed how they interacted with the toys and each other. I have noted that I have never seen the babies interact with each other before. The little girls would exchange glances and grab their friend's arm or touch their hair. I thought it was cool that they got to finally be "aware of" their friend. Possibly this early interaction with other babies will instill a positive social implication to their personalities.
After helping the babies find toys to play with and getting the others to sleep, the toddler side was also lacking in volunteers so I went over there because the kids were waking up from their naps. I walk in through the child-secure gate and see one of the toddlers sitting at the snack table and eating his raisins (which obviously must have been today's snack option). He also appeared to be the only one left eating because his daycare-mates were off doing other things. However, I did notice that a small group of kids had surrounded the table. They were watching in careful anticipation for the boy to glance away so they could snatch his raisins. He kept a watchful eye on them and finished his handful of raisins. He turned to the head instructor and did the hand symbol for "More" all while saying, "More, please?" The instructor grabbed another handful and placed it in front of him and the little boy looked away for a second. As soon as the raisins touched the table, all of the kids that had surrounded the diameter of the table lunged forward and grabbed all his snack. The poor boy was wiped clean of raisins within a matter of seconds. All of the instructors, including myself, found this to be very amusing. However, we made sure to give him more raisins along with a high-security body guard to be his bouncer.
The kids are so brutally honest and many of the things they do are so amusing. I do not know what I would do without this kind of joy in my life. I do not know what kind of teacher I want to be, but I do feel that working with children is where I feel most at home.