Monday – SW Charter

We get three groups. The first is the Pre-Kindergarden and Kingergarden students. They are, for me, the trickiest group. Luckily, Lara is a Kindergarden teacher, so she fills in the blanks. Today we read them “Head To Toe” by Eric Carle- a kid’s classic and then led them through a bunch of follow the leader type games. We challenged them to engage in a lot of exercises that required them to “cross their midline,” or move hands and feet across the body and coordinate hands and feet together. A standard landmark to determining Kindergarten readiness, such motor skills are integral to being able to write and draw.

The second group is the 1st-3rd graders. We managed to get them through a number of games involving throwing the pads but they got a little stumbly when we moved on to the Kung Fu. It took me a second to realize what was going on – there was a new student. Ah! I forgot how much the energy changes when there is someone new in the class. You’ve got to start back over with all the simple stuff. That’s okay. We all need reminders (me included, obviously).

The third group is easy – the 4th-6th graders. We got them through the same pad tossing games plus some more challenging ones for them. Amazing how hard it is for students to pass the pad around when they are kanagroos hopping in a circle. Who knew? The struggled through cycles BUT they got it and once they realized that they’re (sort of) getting the opportunity to throw strikes at another person they got a little excited.

We also asked if we could take pictures and the principal said yes! So hopefully next week I can post up some photos. The class takes place in a church space, which is a little strange but hey… wherever, whenever, right?