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View Full Version : Volunteering in schools can be educational



shayleetv
09-25-2010, 01:39 AM
A few weeks ago my wife and I bumped into an old friend that teaches school. When she found out I was retired she asked me if I would like to volunteer a hour a day for a couple of days each week. I thought it sounded like a good thing to do because I was already reading for some elderly people at a rest home. She called later and a schedule was made up. She told me how helpful this would be to her because with budget cuts she had more students than she has had before, a total of 38 1st graders. I would have a group of the better readers, a total of 10. They were all reading on at least a 3rd grade level, pretty impressive I think.
On the first day we read a story about a child who had a name that could be a girl or a boy. After they took turns reading the story out loud I asked some question about the story. There were pictures to go with the story to help with comprehending what they were reading. One of the questions was, "How do we know if the child in the story was a boy or a girl?" One answer could be from the picture showing her to be a girl; another was from the pronoun usage. One sharp little girl noticed in the picture the girl had earrings. Another girl said that that didn't mean anything because her dad on "special days" wore her mothers earrings. Then there was more questions about her dad and what he wore. Dad got outed by his daughter and most of the girls concluded with phrase "sweet". But the funniest comment came from a boy who said he wished he had pierced ears so he could wear his sisters earrings when they play dress up. I thought it was an innocent question and I got to know about a fellow sister and a blossoming little sister. See what I mean about school being educational.

Dora Faye
09-25-2010, 01:55 AM
Great story. Thanks for sharing. Too bad adults can't see life through the heart of a child. :)

alyssaenglefield
09-25-2010, 03:56 AM
I could only laugh at that story. The joys of (what we and the UK call) Year 2s.

Year 1 (Kindegarten) was better when you said that "Dad cut off his hand with the chainsaw". In reality, the chainsaw kicked-back and cut his hand and wrist open. At least it was more interesting than what you bought from the $2 shop at the weekend!

Jenny Doolittle
09-25-2010, 07:24 AM
Innocents is a wonderful thing, isn't it"

Annie D
09-25-2010, 07:25 AM
I have been in education for over 30 years and each generation of students become more and more tolerant of those of us who are different. I won't live to see it but some of you will see us someday becoming accepted.

AKAMichelle
09-25-2010, 02:01 PM
There are more of us than people realize and apparently more coming up the ranks behind us.