Today I volunteered at Marie's school all day. She is in preschool, and it is from 8:30-4:30. I was only planning on staying until lunch, but they asked me if I could stay all day long because one of the assistants was gone today.
I had nothing else to do- so I stayed! It was a wonderful day!
Marie attends a private Catholic school. There are 26 kids in her class. The parents all park their cars, and walk their children into their classroom. I like this, because it allows the parents and teachers able to stay in contact with one another.
The walk down towards Marie's classroom from the car is like walking through a garden. Her "campus" is so beautiful! There are many different buildings, with traditional French architecture, 2 little chapels, gardens, and homes where the volunteers live.
The volunteers.
What do I mean by "the volunteers." The best way I know how to describe is to imagine cafeteria ladies, who live at your school, are consecrated to God, do not marry, spend the afternoon in the garden in silence before God, and are very kind. Ah, yes. The volunteers.
During nap time, I took a walk around the campus. I did not know where I was walking, but I knew there was a teachers lounge somewhere with coffee so I was hoping to stumble upon that. (Ahh, the language barrier!) I ended up walking into the volunteers garden! I ran into them. I told them I did not speak French, but one spoke a little English and she gave me a little tour of the area and of one of the Chapels. Later Christine told me about what they do. They were also the ones I saw cleaning up during the kids lunch time. Hence the cafeteria lady reference.
I have mentioned before that Marie is very attached to her Mother and is sometimes not so fond of me being around! But today, she was proud of me. As we were leaving the house, she said.. IN ENGLISH "COME ON, LEAH!" She was showing me off to all her friend's when we got to the school. I believe she was saying to them, "I present you Leah, she is from America!" How sweet. All day long the children were clinging to me! It was cute, because when they would be fighting over who was gone to hold my hand, Marie was very protective over me. It was like she was saying, "She's Mine!" in her little head.
There were 3 children in the class of 26 who spoke English. One was Australian, and 2 were from England. And boy did they follow me around all day! They were absolutely adorable so I did not mind! Their teachers all speak French only so it must have been so nice for them to be able to communicate with me. One of the kids who spoke English also is fluent in French. A four year old. Her name is Charlotte and she was a big help to me today. Her mom is French and her dad is English. Yes, I am admitting I had a four year old translator today!
Today was probably the hardest day as far as language barrier goes. My host family all speaks fluent English. This was not the case at the school! The 2 teachers did not speak English! And the kids would keep talking to me in French, and I would just look at them and tell them in French (I don't speak French) but they are so young I do not think they understood. They would just keep repeating what they were trying to tell me over, and over, and 5 minutes later, and over again. Just imagine all these little bright eyed, French children, trying to tell you something with excitement in their cute little voices and just having to stare back at them! At least it was cute!
Les toilettes.
AKA potty break!
VERY different from America. In America, teachers cannot really even help children button their pants, fix their belt, ect. In France, all of the children line up, and pull their pants down and use the restroom with NO DOOR and all the other kids just sit, watch, and wait for their turn.
Lunch time.
AKA fine dining!
The kids have a 5 course meal. They sat in nice chairs. Our meal started off with a lovely salad, bread, then came the pork, then a rice type dish, then cream cheese, then some fresh fruit, then a little desert. There are 6 kids at a table. There are many adults walking around, serving, picking up PLATES, (not trays), cutting food, ect. During the entire lunch I was helping serve the kids at my table food. They all made a huge mess! The older kids in the school also walked around and helped the younger ones, then on the way back to class an older kid is paired with a younger one and they hold their hand while they walk back.
Planning Time
AKA Relaxing in a garden..
During the break time, I finally found the coffee and sat in cushioned chairs in a garden with roses, daiseys, greenery, and even the Virgin Mary. It was perfect weather, and perfect sights. I even got a tan. What other way is there to spend your break time...
Recess.
AKA CHAOS!
This is not your typical recess. The other teachers barely "monitored" the kids. They were out there, but not really watching too closely. The entire recess area was gated, however. It was not really like a park, but more of like a giant concrete area with some scooters, balls, and a slide. During recess all the kids were pulling me in all different directions. I found myself surrounded by 8 little girls and they were all playing with my hair and trying to talk to me. Finally they understood that I only speak English and the next thing I know one of them yells the F word! I guess that is the only word they know in English. I was taken off guard for sure!
I spent a lot of the day cutting out supplies for their big Mother's Day craft. I am a terrible cutter though, so we will see how this turns out. I do not think one single thing I cut had a straight line involved. Oh well.
LA MUSIQUE
Marie's Teacher knows that I am a music teacher. The last thirty minutes of the day, right after recess number 3, she pulls out a small bucket of music things. Tambourines, rhythms sticks, one recorder, and a little glockenspiel. Then she tells me, "Okay you have any ideas..." And Voila. I am supposed to teach a lesson, because then she brings all the kids inside, they sit on the floor, and she tells them to listen to me.
Listen to me. I can't speak French! So we have little Charolette translate what I say.
My lesson. I just picked out the melody to Au Clair De la Lune and Frere Jacques on the little glockenspiel. The kids all listened as I played, and they then began to sing along, since these are French staples. I wanted to start with tunes that they were familiar with. In preschool, they are not going to be able to pick up on new melodies that quickly, I just wanted them to enjoy music together with me today. After they listened and sang a few times, we passed out little rhythm sticks to everyone. Suddenly--CHAOS.
OF COURSE preschoolers are going to bang on their rhythm stick the second it is put in their hand. The teacher kept yelling, "Stop, Stop!" A few would stop and then it started again. This process just kept repeating itself and it was going nowhere. Finally I jumped in and demonstrated what I wanted the kids to do. Whenever it is NOT time to play, you rest the sticks on your left and right shoulder. Its really genius. The kids immediately started demonstrating me and suddenly it was quiet. And I did not even have to speak French! Then I counted off one, two, three, began singing the songs and demonstrated keeping a steady beat with the sticks. Next I added my glock playing to the singing. Marie's teacher was so impressed! She told me to keep going. I think she liked the structure. Next, I decided it would be a good idea to allow the kids to be creative. (Throwing in some of my Orff training!) I watched for creative ways we could demonstrate a steady beat using our sticks. When I saw an idea I would point to the child, they would show the class, then we all sang, and I played. We repeated this a few times. All the kids were so attentive and excited! Next, we sang and kept a steady beat VERY QUIETLY. We did the whole process again but this time at a very soft dynamic level. The class really worked on a lot of music standards today, and the teacher said they all loved it and she wants me to come back any time! Next time I come, she will have a piano for me.
I supposed it was not bad for having an impromptu music lesson with 3 and 4 year olds who do not speak my language !
The photos are from an ipad, not great quality. But I had to take pictures!
I love this! What a wonderful experience! Wow!
ReplyDelete