Preschool | Angela

My Dominican preschool experience is nothing like the way Canadians run preschool. The first thing we do on the average preschool day when we arrive at the two story church we use is walk up and down the dirt roads to gather kids. At first we had to explain to a few parents why we wanted to take their kids (with our very small spanish vocabulary), but after awhile, when they saw the white people, they just handed us their kids. Some days I was given babies who were too young to walk, and at the same time we had kids that were 11 or 12. The top floor had desks for the older kids, little chairs for the young ones, and blackboards for both age groups. The older group being taught in desks ranged from 5 year olds to the parents of the little niños.

During my days at the preschool I only ever taught the littlest ones that were from roughly ages two to six. The first half of the morning we would have teaching time, where we would teach one to five, and the Spanish alphabet, taking frequent breaks every few minutes to sing interactive songs. We frequently used “London Bridges” to get them out of their seats, and a favourite from there was “Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes”. We had many failed attempts at games like musical chairs, but it was a great learning experience on what works with mixed age kids and what doesn’t. When the niños got restless we switched to crafts. The one year olds and the kids our age were both doing the exact same craft. During craft time, I sat on the floor helping out the shy kids, and younger ones. Being an introvert, large amounts of kids running around and things not being all that organized makes me want to sit in a corner and wait for it to end, but I came on this trip to stretch myself, not to force myself to be who i am not, but to come out of my shyness a bit. I thrived on focusing on three kids, two insanely shy to make me comfortable when I needed it, and one extroverted one to pull me outside of my comfort zone. The average craft time for me was having a little baby on my lap who couldn’t walk, the same girl who was probably two to the right, and another super shy girl to the left of me who was 7. Preschool finished at noon every day, and after lunch, that's when my favourite memories happened.

Another responsibility our group had in helping start up the preschool was building a playground out of tires and scraps of wood. I'm not a huge fan of construction when it comes to using shovels, unless it involves planting a tree, so that wasn't my favourite. the 4th afternoon I was at the preschool I was given the very simple task of sanding little blocks of wood. Sitting against the cement wall by myself, a few kids came and sat around me. In my broken Spanish we talked for an hour straight about the similarities and differences between Canada and the Dominican. During that time, I wasn't doing my sanding job, because the kids wanted to do my job for me, and I was most definitely going to be okay with getting to talk to local kids in exchange for them doing my work. During that time I hung out with an extroverted 5 year old named Patricia, who helped get me out of my shell each day. She forced me to be a little crazier, to talk a little more, and to be more involved. That 4th preschool day was the first day that i ever felt connected to what I was doing. Seeing the kids run down the street yelling “ANNA!” (because they couldn’t pronounce the g in my name, I went by Anna there) and having certain kids give the cold shoulder to some, and come sit on me, made me feel the most connected to kids than I feel at home in Canada. I felt the most connected and liked by the kids at the preschool than any other place that I have been at on the trip. For the first time ever I felt so much closer to God by hanging out with kids. Being with the kids, really connecting with the few I did, really made this trip for me. I found focusing on a few kids and trying to build relationships with just a specific few made me enjoy my time a the preschool much more. Being an introvert who never talks to kids, ever, and going on this Dominican trip was hard, but completely and totally worth it. It has stretched me, grown me, it has rewired the way in which I think, process, and react to things.