Stephanie Crowell

Today at SOAR we continued working on thanksgiving crafts. The kids had a sheet of paper with leaves on it. On the leaves they wrote something that they were thankful for. I went around the room helping kids spell some words. Once they were done writing down what they were thankful for, they cut out the leaves and glued it onto a sheet of paper that had a tree on it. They colored their trees in and gave their own personal touch. After we were finished with that activity we moved onto clubs. Group 1 was painting today. They had drawn up whatever they like the week before and this week we passed out their drawings for them to paint on. Today taught me a lot about patience. The kids were extra rambunctious and required a lot of redirection.

Today at SOAR, I helped the kids make turkeys again. They started out my designing their turkey and coloring it, then they cut out the eyes, nose and body. There were strips of paper they could use as feathers and use one for each letter of their name. We took a break from that for a little bit so that the kids could complete a fire drill. After the fire drill they went back to completing their turkeys and could color after they were done. Then we took them to the cafeteria for dinner.

Today at Soar we started out by asking the kids if they knew what Thanksgiving was and what we do during that holiday. We had them write down things they were thankful for on a sheet of paper with a turkey. I helped a few kids cut out and glue their turkey so they could put it on their hat. The kids seemed to love that activity and they were sad when it was time to move on to the next activity. After the turkey hats, we handed out paper for the kids to draw a self portrait. We saved their self portraits so that they could paint them next week. The kids kept me busy but made it enjoyable to be there.

Today at SOAR, I had the opportunity to volunteer by supervising children in the gym and ensuring their safety during activities. Being in this role reminded me how important attentiveness and proactive observation are, especially when working with energetic groups.This experience also reinforced my ability to remain calm and focused in dynamic environments. Interacting with the children, I had to balance giving them freedom to play while staying safe, which required patience, clear communication, and quick decision-making. Volunteering at SOAR strengthened my skills in supervision, responsibility, and situational awareness all of which are essential qualities I plan to carry into my future work.

Today was a pretty relaxed day. There weren't many kids at SOAR because of parent teacher conferences. The kids were given the option to play outside or be inside and watch Camp Rock. I was outside for most of the time supervising the kids and making sure they weren't getting out of hand. Overall the kids were really good, only had one issue with a couple of kids not sharing, but the issue was resolved pretty quickly.

Today, we were teaching the kids about kindness. We told the kids what 'kindness' meant and had them give us examples of what kindness is or looks like. For the activity, we gave them a sheet of paper that had the word 'kind' in different forms. They could trace the word, write each letter in a box, and find the correct letters while being jumbled up. I helped 2 little girls with their worksheets. One girl I helped write some of the letters of the alphabet and taught her the difference between a capital and lowercase letter. We also passed out a sheet that asked them to write down examples of kindness. After we were done with that activity, we took the kids to the cafeteria to play with some legos.

We got the kids active today by playing 'Just Dance' style videos. One of the videos that we play was very nostalgic for me. I remember when I was in elementary school and our teacher showed us the "Ice age Continental Drift" video. The kids were really engaged with the videos and liked being able to jump around. Later, we let them play with legos and had them build structures. While we were playing with the legos, I had a little boy ask me what 'belief' means, and I explained to him that it's an idea or thing you believe to be true.

Today, I helped teach the kids what empathy was and helped them write down the activities they enjoy doing. They watched a couple of videos explaining what empathy is. I walked around to a couple of tables and helped some kids brainstorm and think about the activities or foods they like. All the kids at one of my tables had at least one dog, and they all enjoy playing with their pet. While I was there, a little boy got injured and I helped in comforting him while waiting for an ice pack to come.

Today, we taught the children the difference between the four seasons and describe them. The kids were very interactive and interested in the activity. We then moved on to a coloring activity that correlated to the four season. I helped a little girl color her page and make it look nice and pretty. I feel like I've gotten better about giving kids instruction and having them listen and not defy.

Today was my first day volunteering at SOAR. During my time there I got to meet the group I'd be working with for the semester and get acquainted with the children. I was paired to work with the kindergarteners and helped them with their activities. While I was volunteering, I noticed how much children benefit from having a structured environment where they can feel safe, supported, and encouraged to learn and play.