Children grow & change: a visit to the Junior Builders class

For my project period today I stayed with and observed the Junior Builders’ class. When I first walked in the room I saw the kids having snack and playing. I expected them to be shy, but instead they all smiled and said good morning. The kids were very helpful and sweet.

When I asked what they did in class, they told me that they would read, write, sing, dance, tell stories, and play. They told me that their “Teacher Tere” is really fun and smart. What most of them told me was that if I needed help with something or if I had a question, I could ask teacher because that’s what they did.

Their classroom had different areas like the Table Toys and the Reading Center. They told me that during their “Exploration” period, the period I visited, they could go around the classroom and do what they wanted. I noticed that their classroom hotspot was the Drama Center. It was really fun observing the kids when they were at the drama center. That’s when I saw how large their imaginations were. Some of the kids who were there would pretend to be taking care of a baby, some would pretend that they were chefs, and some would pretend they were selling things.

When I stayed with some kids at the reading center, two of them got their (I’m assuming) favorite books. They showed me the pictures and told me the stories. They also showed me their paintings that were hanging in the room. When I asked them questions, they would give me the cutest answers! You couldn’t always understand what they meant, but you can tell that they really thought about their answers!

At one point I asked one of the girls what she liked talking to her friends about and she answered, “What we like: I like talking about Descendants and what I watch. Pero lagi we talk just about us. Us lang.”

Now that I am learning about growing and changing, and as I recall all the things they were doing, and I realized that they liked doing the same things that my cousins their age liked! I also am connecting these with the research I did on children ages 2-5, which states that children these ages had very active and wild imaginations...exactly as how I observed the Junior Builders to be.

It was one of the most fun Project periods I’ve had. In the short time I stayed with them, I learned a lot about kids their age.

About the author:

Ia Aleta was homeschooled for a number of years before she came to Builders'. During her first year with us, I remember her to be missing her mom mostly. Now, she is doing quite well and have exceeded expectations. In fact, she has won The Builders' Cup and continues to direct her learning, online and offline. She can make a great doctor, psychologist or even a teacher someday. We'll see!