October 29 - Daddy Spends Time With Perry's Kindergarten Class As A Volunteer, Fun Time Had By All

Mrs. Mullen (who has taught all of our girls in Kindergarten except Haley) sent out an email looking for parent volunteers on Thursdays to run an activity center. So, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and spend some time with Perry and her class.

I showed up around 9:15 a.m. and sat down and observed the next fifteen minutes of class, when all twenty or so of the kids were in circle time, reviewing days of the week, the weather, etc. It was fun to watch. Perry was very attentive and alert and really concentrating on what Mrs. Mullen was teaching… not at all distracted by my presence.

Around 9:30 a.m. or so, I was put in charge of today’s activity center featuring two giant pumpkins. Each kid would be given a little orange booklet with activities I was supposed to supervise for the kids, focusing on numbers and math and measuring. So, in the booklet, we had to measure the circumference of the pumpkins (after guessing), weigh the pumpkins (after guessing), and counting the lines along the perimeter of the pumpkin (again, after guessing). The kids came over in three groups of roughly six or seven per group, and it took a little more than an hour for me to get through all three groups. During this session, the other kids were broken up into two other groups, doing things with Mrs. Mullen and Mrs. McArthur (Mrs. Mullen assistant). Every fifteen or twenty minutes, the three groups would switch.

Perry was in my first group, and we had a great time. I tried to be engaging with the kids, and also maybe try to teach them something. We laughed and had a good time. I had to try to convince the kids that their initial guesses of “a hundred million inches” and “a hundred billion pounds” were probably a bit on the high side.

I feel lucky, given that I work close by, that I can do things like this from time to time. I can’t wait for the next visit to South School!

Thanks Perry!