Week 1 reflection

Home Visits

For the last two days my host teacher, our classroom aide and I have gone on kindergarten home visits. Kindergarten home visits? What are those? Last semester, when I had first heard that I would be going on them, I started asking myself these questions. My host teacher was very willing to explain the process to me. She was able to help me understand the purpose, but I still wondered if they were truly beneficial for the students.

During our first few visits my questions were immediately answered. As I watched our first student interact with my host teacher I noticed that the student was eager to get to know her as well as the rest of us. I watached as one of the students eyes "lit up" as she talked about what we would be doing at Woodburn.

Many of the home visits opened my eyes to the experiences that our students go through. While some of the experiences were very pleasant and comforting others were more depressing and left me feeling sad for the children. One visit in particular stands out in my mind. We waited on the porch waiting for the mother and daughter to come to the door. When they did come to answer the door, the mother told us that she had just woken up, like her daughter, at 2:30 in the afternoon. All three of us were shocked and surprised. We even ended up having our meeting on the front porch because the mother did not want us inside of her house. Even after everything that happened, I felt even sadder for the little girl because she was in desperate need of something to do or even something to play with. She stood outside and threw rocks at a tree because she did not own any toys that were suitable for her to engage with.

Overall, it has been a very rewarding experience. The teacher, aide and I were able to introduce ourselves to each student, explain some of the activities that we will be working on this year, and even make them less nervous about attending Woodburn next week. The parents were very welcoming and inviting. I was a bit aprehensive about going on these visits- but was overly surprised on how beneficial they are. I expect this school year to be a wonderful experience. I now believe that these visits help the students feel more comfortable about school starting and leave them with the impression that the experience will not be as scary as they think it might be.

Even though we will have twenty three students in this class, I am confident that we will have a productive, educational, and entertaining year. I hope that our home visits tomorrow and Monday turn out as rewarding as these past ones have.