Today, however is a landmark day! The
children are visiting the playground for the first time this year. They will
have exclusive use of the playground, before the older children come outside!
On the other end, in the classroom with the
4-5 year olds, things are abuzz. After the morning group circle, children are
invited to choose “work”/activities from the shelves. The Practical Life activities
were prepared the week before by the Ubomi teachers.
The Ubomi teachers are encouraged to invite
the children and introduce them to the “new work!” The children look animated
and willingly engage with the adults. Their concentration and interest is apparent
from their facial expressions. They are
so eager to choose activities.
Soon however, chaos reigns! The activities on the shelves are incomplete
and/or returned to incorrect places. To add to the chaos the teachers over-mediate
and direct the children, sometimes to the extent of doing the activity
themselves without offering the children the option to try.
Overall, the morning work time is busy with a
flurry of activity and energy in the classroom. The debriefing session
encourages reflection on behaviours, attitudes, skills and feelings around the
morning events. Consensus was reached
around preparation of environment, the importance of modeling the grace and
courtesies and body management required from the children and adults alike in
the environment.
While the teachers were at tea, we quickly set
up the environment with the help of Tosh the class teacher. Tosh’s energy and
enthusiasm to share her resources with us enabled us to set up a Practical
Life, Language, Sensorial and Art area with sufficient activities for approximately
children!
Exhausted but satisfied we left Kosovo with
the firm conviction that tomorrow will be a new day full of concentrated activity
for the children of Kosovo!
