Kintropy In Action: To cut or not to cut: that is the question

Today marked the beginning of my volunteering in my son’s kindergarten class. One teacher. 23 students. The goal: to get everyone up to first grade reading level by the end of the year. The class needs more then one adult.

My job today was to help the flow of educational busy-work while the teacher, Mrs. G, took each skill level set and worked with them in three different groups. It was fun, invigorating, and worrisome. Kindergartners are not self-starters or independent workers. I think Mrs. G has done a great job of keeping them engaged and keeping with the skill level she is trying to teach.

A great deal of the projects involved scissors. Between juggling the papers and whose book was whose, I had to deal with the safety issue of scissors. Kindergartners get carried away with gesturing when they talk. They don’t notice what is in their hands. One girl kept wanting to show me if she put her fingers behind the blade she almost cut herself. I was trying to explain that, yeah, that would happen if she would keep doing it. Meanwhile, the professional teacher’s helper took her scissors away. I was so glad for her to help in navigation of the minefield.

Note: No kids were hurt or maimed in my stint as teacher aid. (I’m even going back next week)