Hey everyone,
My first few weeks at the Boys and Girls Club at the Ira Samelson Branch have been a challenge to say the least. It is the first time I am working with young children and my first time working with large groups of them. I am noticing a few common themes with most of the children at the club.
One thing I have noticed is that most of the kids seem to be behind what I believe their grade level should be. I do some games with the kids after my nutrition class. One game is called "categories" where I say a category and tell them to name a certain amount off things from that category in a certain amount of time. For instance, I could ask them to "name 3 US presidents." With the 4th and 5th graders, many of the children couldn't name that many presidents, and collectively as a group of 15 kids they could only think of 3 US presidents. There were many other instances similar to this and it really was eye opening to me. I was pretty frustrated that the kids could not name what I believe to be simple things. There are also times I will do games that involve spelling with the kids. I run into similar issues where I had a few children that are going into 5th grade that could not read any of the words I was giving them. A lot of these words were pretty simple also. It appears that a great deal of the kids are already behind grade level, and it will be pretty tough to catch up. Already at such a young age, the disparity in education seems to be presenting itself.
On another note, my healthy habits class seems to be a hit with the kids. They love to come to my class and I think they are getting some good lessons from it. I have every age group twice a week. So once a week, I will do a lesson on a food topic. And the other time, I will make some food with the kids. It is a struggle to keep the kids interested for the lesson just on food, but I have been able to create some fun lessons. During the cooking lessons, we have made pizza, a snack quesadilla, and pancakes. I have tried to introduce foods that are not common to these kids but are affordable to access. Everything has been a healthy alternative to other snacks and a few of the children have said they made the food with their parents as well.
It's interesting to hear about your struggles with these kids, particularly concerning their battle with being behind grade level and not being able to name 3 US Presidents. It's pretty mind blowing that they could not do a simple task like that, but I think it's really cool that you've found something like lessons on healthy eating that has piqued their interest and that you also seem to be enjoying! It will be exciting to see how you can continue to make a difference in their lives and how your connections with them grow.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to your concern about the grade level of the kids. I have the same concern about my kids. I think it's awesome that you are incorporated games to increase their knowledge level even if they seem insignificant, the games are making a difference. Also since they seem to love the lessons so much I hope they are encouraged to take your recipes home to their families.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you wrote about the challenges as well as the triumphs at your service site. I definitely identify with the experience of doing certain things for the first time, although for me that applies not to working closely with children but actually to working with groups of adults. It’s hard to believe that only three presidents could be named! However, your post did a good job of connecting this and other specific instances to the bigger picture of education and inequality. Finally, I think it’s wonderful that you will continue to see the same groups of kids on a regular basis and so will be able to form meaningful relationships with the individuals you are serving. It seems that you have already convinced several children of the value of eating healthy! I love that some repeated the meals at home with their families.
ReplyDeleteConnor--
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you're teaching about nutrition, and also providing healthy but delicious options for the kids. I'm sure for some of them, that will be the most substantial meal they have all day or even all week. Also, the fact that then they are going home and telling their parents about what they are making in class not only shows the parents that they are learning how to make healthy choices, but those parents then may be encouraged to start making healthier decisions for their children at the grocery store. Nutrition is so important because it not only has short term effects - like increasing attention span so that these kids might be able to shorten the gaps that exist in their educations - but also long term health. Your experience will probably help a lot this week when we discuss Memphis health care plans that promote wellness and disease prevention.