Claire Lavergne- Anna's Arts- week 9/26-10/2

Since blogging last I have had two more days at Anna's Arts. When I walk into the church most of the kids now know my name, and I have just about all of theirs down as well. When I am working with the kids one thing that always gets me is the way they talk to one another. I guess they have been influenced by their parents, older siblings, or other relatives, but many of the kids 4-10 years old speak crudely to each other. Sometimes they use bad language, but others it just rude like, "Her hair done be fake miss, that's some ugly weave," just talking about a classmate's hair. I know all little kids have grammatical problems when speaking, or pick on each other but just the way some of these kids speak astounds me... I can't even repeat some of what they say, and they're 7 years old! When each child is separated and working independently with a teacher or volunteer, with out distractions, they can get so much accomplished. Its when one of their peers walks by and makes a comment or throws something or acts out that they get off track. They feed off of each other's energy. That is why St. Anna's goal is to be able to work one on one with the kids at all times. However, because there are not enough volunteers to do this, St. Anna's often becomes a mad house. At first it scared me how off the wall things got, and the fact that you had to discipline the kids... I didn't feel like it was my place to do so. I think I've gotten over that now though, and I've learned to isolate the kid(s) that are instigating the problem by misbehaving. Every day at St. Anna's is difficult and exhausting, but at the same time its fun and exciting. I look forward to many more days here!