my stint at the childcare centre.... 19 Nov 06

My stint at the childcare centre ends... I'm not going to state names here...

One thing for sure, I'm going to miss all the children, from toddlers to K2.. Even the staff there.. my journey of ups and downs, all the tears and laughter i have shared with them, the hugs they willingly give me, their smiles, their individual personalities and our unique ways of connecting with the children, especially the multiple nationalities child, the pose of praying while sleeping, the two dimples child, the more active ones in N2, the three brothers.. the most active toddler... and 2 brothers who fell asleep inmediately after lying on the mattress. and his usual sleeping pose of lying on your back cross-legged. the older brother.

I find that interesting things happen in a childcare centre everyday. Usually, its the children who entertain us, not the opposite. I find the staff being soo busy until they go down with flu, coughs, fever and other illnesses. (Believe me, i know, since i have been there and done that.) I gotta applaud to them. Not only that, they had to deal with upcoming events, held especially at the end of the year. but they thrived on to finish all. Their passion for kids is their drive to go to work everyday. Kudos to them.

At the beginning of my stint, I remembered that i was exhausted. Ard 4 pm, i tried to keep awake. i did everything, from washing my face, to massaging my eyebrow area to keep awake. Alas, it was futile. So needless to say, during their tv sessions before coming home, i napped. I think the children knew that, because K2 kids were staring at me curiously. This went on and continued when Lily completed 4 days attachment. Ah... that was the best part during the attachment. At least i got a friend to chat with, and go to Causeway Point together. We normally chat about the center, the kids during the bus 695 journey. I remembered dragging our feet to Macdonalds, and eating dinner there. After that, we shopped. It strengthened our friendship more. The thought of us going to the library and going to class caused some really funny incidents. Incidents caused by fatigue. Only Allah and Lily know how they went. I would love for times like these to happen often. Unfortunately our schedules always crash.

2 bad things happened during my stint. First, the incident where a grp of naughty children secretly slipped an self explosive mini bag. We were just chatting and I falling asleep, until the bag exploded itself. A boy cried, and laughter were heard outside. All the teachers pitied the boy, coz he was sleeping at the window until he was given a rude shock. I wldn't be surprised that he develops a phobia. Both Lily and I were soooo angry at the pranksters. We closed all the windows, and somebosy said that it can happen again. True enuf, it did. This time round, the pranksters ran along the windows knocking. But they were caught by one of the staff.

Then I was tasked with conducting a storytelling session that didn't go well... I admit, the book I chose is an inappropriate book. I tried to make my voice and the tone authoritive, and I did manage to finetune on that. I did take over the class, and I gave them free expression session. Asking the children what they drew is 1 way to get closer to them We don't need to figure out what the drawings meant. We just asked them. Later, the teachers asked me to watch over their class for a moment, while they went to take water, go toilet, whatsoever. At the mid of second week, I became busy doing my learning center. The center that i chose is a Camping center. It took me time to do the campfire, the pond and the background.

Also, I toyed with many ideas to do for my lesson practicum. At first i wanted to do storytelling, then switched to art and craft, again with different ideas. I did the lesson plan last minute. Gosh.. I regretted that. How I wished that i conducted a lesson proper, but Nan proceeded to the learning center and i had to go with her. I think a kid was pissed off at me for leaving the lesson hanging in the air. Another kid that I really liked, sulked when he was not included in the lesson that I conducted. To him, I was showing favoritism. When actually I wasn't. The reason was that he was an active kid. Enuf said. They all brightened up when I bought metallic pencil cases for them. I bought 3 different kinds, and i wanted them to make choices.

Yesterday was the last day for me. I managed to keep my promise. Going all the way to Bugis to buy a royal cake chocolate truffle. Yum... I didn't know that going to Tampines was a better option than Bugis. I didn't know and I didn't ask the staff for info. It also happened that K2 graduation event was held on the same day. I get to eat Delicious banana muffin... yum... can't forget the taste. I brought out the cake last minute... they enjoyed it v much....

Yuppzz... that's it... ^^