Volunteering at the Daycare

The best thing that I did the past few months was volunteer twice a week at the daycare with a group of 4-5 year olds.
I did this in order to acquire classroom experience with children. I was lucky enough to be placed with a very inspiring educator named Heather. She does her job extremely well.

Before this I hadn't had much contact with groups of children. I wasn't sure how I'd try to relate to them or how they'd accept me. Through this experience I gained a lot of insight into how children are and how to interact with them.

They want attention. They want to learn. They want to play. They want to be praised. They want to be active. They want to belong. They want to be engaged in activities. They want to relate.

Through observation and mentoring from Heather, during this infield experience I evolved three very important skills.

To Be Calm.
Heather spoke to the children very calmly regardless of the situation. She took the time to explain things to them with tranquility and they listened (99% of the time!). There was some obvious repetitions, but the tone of her voice maintained peaceful and authoritative rather than someone that's annoyed.

This is a skill that I will incorporate into my life. I've always been very anxious about unpredictable outcomes and this is especially difficult when dealing with children, so whilst I was with Heather, I was able to relax and deal with the issues as the came up, rather than attempting to prevent every problem from happening in the first place.  Being calm has also helped me when it comes to finding proper solutions when problem solving. I can stay positive and find the next best outcome. 

To Be Organized.
Heather always had well thought out activities prepared and her day flowed smoothly according to the clock. She had lists of the weekdays with the corresponding activities she'd chosen relating to the theme of the week and she was very flexible.

The beauty of being prepared is also about being able to stay calm! Having a plan is very effective when it comes to achieving educational goals. It's very possible that things don't always go as planned, but incase of deviation from the original plan, it's always easy to get back on track when it is time. A routine will be a part of my daily life because I enjoy moving towards a goal and I can always stay focused with a plan. 

To Be Creative.
Heather (even though she uses pinterest often) is very creative when it comes to coming up with educational activities in order to expand on what the kids already know and what they can already do.

Doing arts and crafts is the main focus of creative expression yet it can have other benefits too. I've come to find a way of finding other advantages for doing an activity. No matter how mundane an activity looks it can be practicing motor skills of their hands, vocabulary, pronunciation, sizes, numbers, textures, colors, names, patterns, etc- an infinite number of things. 

Being able to come up with your own activity (with it's own benefits) helps to be a creative outlet and keep motivated in the work environment. 

These three skills will be in focus when I look, get and maintain a job.
They show professionalism, dedication and enjoyment of one's work.