Monday, September 23, 2019

Reunited with our Littlest Learners and Miss Kitty

What left me drenched with sweat but sporting a big grin on my face last Thursday morning?

Working with the Early ON group that meets in our school!

It has been a long time since I've had the opportunity to collaborate with these learners and their parents / guardians / caregivers. (I looked it up on my blog, and the last time we were together was back in 2013!) Miss Kitty, the dedicated program coordinator, and I have been keen to resume our partnership but my schedule just didn't permit it at all.

My schedule is still not particularly conducive to collaborative teaching - I only have two periods open out of the forty possible slots - but it just so happened that one of my time blocks aligns at this moment with Miss Kitty's preschool classes. We've met briefly to try and coordinate our purpose and theme. Last week, Miss Kitty was absent and a supply leader was present. However, since time is limited (because the Early ON group works on a Monday to Friday schedule and my teaching time operates on a rotating 5 day schedule), I asked if we could still meet. Ms. Lung, our wonderful kindergarten teacher, explained in Chinese what the plan was to the families in attendance, and off we trooped to the library.

I used my trusty old "Story Bag" to explore and then energetically read the Mo Willems book Pigs Make Me Sneeze and then, unlike past gatherings, I gave them some time to play with the Fisher-Price toys I had out for my regular school-aged students. 

I was a little unsure about how this would go, but it seemed to run smoothly. The adults and little people were most entranced with Ernie the skinny pig. They fed him hay, admired him in his cage, and took many photos. Despite being very young, they were gentle with our pet. Everyone demonstrated curiosity, engagement, and patience as they took turns near his cage and with the toys.


I look forward to spending more time with Kitty (who is a joy to work with) and the members of her Early ON group. 

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