Park elementary field trip
We spent two days at Park Elementary School hanging out with bilingual kids from all grades. We had the same little kid for both days and did some ice breaker activities each time then went with them to their classes and helped with school work. Most of kids hear Spanish spoken at home, but aren't as good at reading and writing in Spanish. At the end of the day we sat down and read children's books in Spanish to them. The first day we came with notecards with conversation starters in Spanish to speak to the kids in Spanish. We also picked out our books before coming and practiced reading them. My kid was in 2nd grade, and after the group activities we went back to class and worked on reading and writing skills. Then we got recess! After recess it was time to rejoin the group and read the Spanish books.
When we first met it was a little awkward. She'd already done this before with the first group of Animas kids so she knew what was going to happen. I used my conversation cards to speak with her in Spanish a little. Her name was Zaria, which means princess. We all participated in a ballon popping game then went to class. They were writing Thank You letters to Fort Lewis College so I helped her figure out what to say and spell all the words correctly. After recess we read books. I read her my children's book that I wrote for Spanish last year, and we read a second book I'd picked out. When I came back the second day she came up and gave me a hug and we talked about her week. It was really cute to see them again. Then we played an activity where one person leads the other person (blindfolded) around the learning preserve to feel trees. I really liked hanging out with her, and felt like I got to know her. If I were to see her again I'd definitely say hi and be excited to talk to her. The blindfolded trust exercise really helped develop a relationship and connection. I wish I got to spend more time with her.
English language learners struggle in school because they spend all day hearing English, but don't get to practice reading and writing it with support at home. At home they hear Spanish so making the switch every day can be challenging. I think growing up bilingual is really special. It gives you so much more understanding and appreciation of the world. These kids will grow up understanding two very different cultures, and be able to go between them easily.
The experience I got from this is amazing. I love hanging out with kids and I loved seeing how much fun they were having with us. I was really surprised by how calm and diligent she was, since she's only in 2nd grade. I've never really spent much time around bilingual kids so it was interesting to learn about her life and family dynamic. I didn't understand that the kids don't get a full Spanish "class," and there are a lot of holes. Personally this impacted me because I've only learned Spanish by getting equal amounts of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. But a lot of the kids don't get all those components so it's hard for them to understand parts of the children's books or sentences on our cards. Some highlights included when she ran up and gave me a hug on the second day and how much she liked the card I made her. I think if I went again I would like to find some games we could play in Spanish, or figure out an activity that would let me learn from her. She wasn't very good at reading Spanish so couldn't help me with words I didn't know, but I'm sure there's other stuff she knows, that I don't. It would have been cool to reverse the roles.
Overall this was a really valuable experience. I think only two days isn't really enough time with them, and I would love to have gotten more time so I could really help her grow. I was homeschooled during elementary school, so for me it was really neat to get to go to 2nd grade for a few days and learn about what a classroom looks like and what the dynamic is. I was impressed by how much she knew about the school and how confident she was wandering around the hallways of the older grades. She was really smart and thorough and I saw a little of myself in her. I could tell she's one of the students the teacher trusted more and gave a little more freedom to which was exciting. I'm really glad I was able to participate.