The science peeps worked on the lesson plan this week. And it was fun!
Wen Cong, our volunteer from Hwa Chong junior college, began with a starter of optical illusions. The kids were really into it. One lesson we learned was that something as simple as seating arrangements can make or break a fun session. Lesson - have more print outs next time and seat the kids closer by removing the table. We'll also use more print outs next time.
With the session on optical illusions Wen Cong also introduced the idea of rods and cones- and how we perceive colour.
Then, Ching Hua led a session on the brain. She had spent two hours researching age-appropriate reading materials and kid friendly visuals. Paid off in spades.
The kids especially loved the 'ick' factor. You want to get their attention, try saying "this is what it would look like if you sliced my head into half sideways." while you turn your head and hold up a diagram of the brain. Ching Hua got lots of "ewwwww"s but the kids were so into it.
Working with such a wide range of ages, 6-12, is challenging, in the least. And pulling together material isn't always easy when all of us have full time jobs and no curriculum development training. Today's reading materials were geared towards several age groups and we were able to divide up the kids by reading ability.
Having enough volunteers to spend one-on-one time with them today was a real treat. I worked with a 10-year-old who has a reading level of a 7 or 8 year old. She's been fairly moody lately and through her community worker, we found out that one of her triggers is when she feels she's out of her depth and the other kids are "smarter."
So today, it was just Dyana and me. No comparisons, no distractions. We got through only two or three sentences about how our ears work. But hey, I was able to devote all my attention on her, and work with her to help her really read and understand.
More to come next week. Great to have such a fabulous group of volunteers. All in all it took 5 hours from Wen Cong and Ching Hua to put together today's 2-hour program for 8 kids. That's really labour intensive. Would love to have more kids join the program - and have more consistency in attendance among the kids who do come.
Today we also had a 14-year-old who came back to volunteers. She used to be part of our program. She got some of her secondary three year-end exam results back today. She got an A2 for her English final and a B3 English average for the year. Not bad considering she was barely passing last year.
She also got a B3 for her Chinese final. I told her I was really proud of her English grade, but I also said "work harder at your Chinese OK?" She comes from a Chinese speaking family and her Chinese is really really good. So I thought that would have been a A kinda subject.
To which she replied "But I got the highest in my class for Chinese!"
Ah...assumptions.
The kids especially loved the 'ick' factor. You want to get their attention, try saying "this is what it would look like if you sliced my head into half sideways." while you turn your head and hold up a diagram of the brain. Ching Hua got lots of "ewwwww"s but the kids were so into it.
Working with such a wide range of ages, 6-12, is challenging, in the least. And pulling together material isn't always easy when all of us have full time jobs and no curriculum development training. Today's reading materials were geared towards several age groups and we were able to divide up the kids by reading ability.
Having enough volunteers to spend one-on-one time with them today was a real treat. I worked with a 10-year-old who has a reading level of a 7 or 8 year old. She's been fairly moody lately and through her community worker, we found out that one of her triggers is when she feels she's out of her depth and the other kids are "smarter."
So today, it was just Dyana and me. No comparisons, no distractions. We got through only two or three sentences about how our ears work. But hey, I was able to devote all my attention on her, and work with her to help her really read and understand.
More to come next week. Great to have such a fabulous group of volunteers. All in all it took 5 hours from Wen Cong and Ching Hua to put together today's 2-hour program for 8 kids. That's really labour intensive. Would love to have more kids join the program - and have more consistency in attendance among the kids who do come.
Today we also had a 14-year-old who came back to volunteers. She used to be part of our program. She got some of her secondary three year-end exam results back today. She got an A2 for her English final and a B3 English average for the year. Not bad considering she was barely passing last year.
She also got a B3 for her Chinese final. I told her I was really proud of her English grade, but I also said "work harder at your Chinese OK?" She comes from a Chinese speaking family and her Chinese is really really good. So I thought that would have been a A kinda subject.
To which she replied "But I got the highest in my class for Chinese!"
Ah...assumptions.
