Little worried about Henry's 1st day--
Find a Conversation
| Sun, 06-10-2007 - 1:50pm |
I am teaching the staff's school-age children at my church's Mother's Day Out program this summer. I requested this age group so that I could be with Henry. MDO is on Mondays and Thursdays, and it started last week. Henry had Camp Invention last week, so tomorrow will be his first day.
All of the other children have been in this class/program in previous summers, so Henry will be the only kid that several of them don't know. We had two children on Thursday that missed Monday (but they knew the other children from last year), and the other kids were not particularly warm, welcoming, or inclusive. The other teacher and I had to step in (and lecture a bit) to make sure that everyone was being treated nicely. I told the children that I expected them to be nice to Henry, but . . .
I'm still worried. First, we have a classroom in the basement off of a large empty room. We are free to use both rooms, and the kids spend a large portion of the time running around and yelling in the large room. They play Red Light, Green Light; Simon Says; stuff like that. I'm afraid all the running around and yelling will nerve Henry out. One good thing--a little girl was helping me something in the classroom, and when the other teacher asked if she didn't want to go play with the other kids, she said she didn't like being out there when everyone was so wild. I told this little girl Henry wouldn't like that, either, so maybe she and Henry could play board games or something. She thought that was a great idea.
Second, Henry's speech has become even more stilted lately. He has a hard time saying a complete thought or sentence even to me, and he is very comfortable with me. I'm dreading the first time one of these children tease him. Maaaaaybe they won't.
I had a very detailed schedule to use on Mondays, but after last Monday I have realized that most of my schedule isn't going to work how I had planned. I need to do some revamping.

As far as Henry... try a quiet place with or without the girl that may play with him. Also, try an ipod or walkmen for him. All the kids running around might be too much... and the noise will certainly be too much. But if he's concentrating on one thing, such as playing with someone else (board game) or even drawing a picture and then listening to music or a book on CD, then he'll be somewhere else for WHEN things get to be too much for him.
Also, you might want to check into splitting these kids into different groups. Or providing different groups of activities for the kids. One group could be where you sit and read a book along with a book on CD or just sit and listen to music. Henry would love that. Or maybe even an art table. Okay, I'm shutting up now! lol. Hope some of this either helps or sparks an idea of your own!
Love,
Jenni
Whew, that does sound like a stresser. I hope that Henry and the quiet girl can do some quiet things together while the group is yelling. Or maybe you could all pretend that you can only whisper and see how long everyone can remember to use their quietest voices.
Heather