Neal- Guidance Center- Day Three

On wednesday, we went to the head start center in Romulous Michigan. We were immediately treated to breakfast when we entered the center. Our first task of the day was to reorganize a bulletin board. Now this is where I had a slight issue with the way our time was used. The task was to change the colors of the bulletin board and make it more presentable. I did not really enjoy this task because I wanted to interact with the children in the center, and I felt my time was being somewhat wasted in making a small cosmetic touch-up. I liked that we put some school pride into the board by adding KU colors and a Jayhawk, subliminally suggesting the idea of going to KU to the impressionable minds of the children. Yet, I had the sinking feeling that I could be doing something more meaningful. Once, we finished up with the bulletin board, the advisors in the head start center asked us if we wanted pizza and then when we said no as we packed lunch. They insisted once again proving the generosity of strangers. The next task was more fulfilling. We organized stacks of books to give to the children. While we were organizing the books, there was a little girl who was there because she hurt her tooth. We ended up reading to her and after a while, the teacher asked her if she was feeling better and she said no, but she obviously was fine and just hamming up to the attention, because as we finished reading she felt better and wanted to run back to class. The last part of the day was by far my favorite and unfortunately the shortest. This was when I got to visit a classroom, yet it was just as they were cleaning up for the day. I got the chance to read a few short books to 3 kids. I liked being able to interact with them and help direct them to clean up. One memorable moment was when they had a microscope and a couple of slides, I showed them a slide of a sponge and a starfish and they told me it reminded them of spongebob and Patrick. I sat with them as the teacher had them reminisce over the days event, and was disappointed when I was told to leave for the day. I wish we were given more time for child interaction and less time doing cosmetic touch-ups, as I felt that would have equated a more rewarding experience.