It's a 20-week program that's funded - ie. we have REAL books for kids of different reading ability, we have sample lesson plans, worksheets, and a trained educator to help us and show us the ropes. Oh, and I think we'll be gettin' learning games at some point. You cannot believe how great that feels.
We're learning some really valuable skills from Georgina, our allied educator - who's open enough to tell us she hasn't worked with kids like ours before and that she's learning along with us. She's a gem.
Are the kids still doing wheelies on chairs? Yes.
Are they still disrepectful? Yes, some, but a lot less than a year ago and it's nothing that worries me.
Is it still difficult to get them to sit still? Yes - but they're kids. Anyone of you who hasn't been IMing or doing email while on conference calls may throw the first stone.
Some of the adults are worried that this is too structured and kids won't feel engaged and will skip out on class since it's free and it's an entirely voluntary thing. But you know what? Real life isn't always fun. And learning takes discipline. So, doesn't hurt to instill that even on weekends.
And as a former corporate person, I'm still hung up on measureable outcomes.
I'm lookin' f'd to seeing progress. It'll still be a tough slog. But the core team of volunteers is committed and we all truly want to see the kids do better - and yes, still have fun.
So, time will tell.
Still- we're exploring how we can reward the kids by organising quarterly outings, combined with learning activities. This is in addition to the holiday programs that Corporate Volunteers do - like taking them to Universal Studios.
In the meantime, we're on to Consonant/ Vowel/ Consonant, Rhyming words, and hopefully, progressing up the reading ladder.
May the Force Be with Us.
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