October 3: Progress!

Today my little came to the cafeteria before I had a chance to go upstairs to find her! The first thing we did was read each other’s journals from throughout this past week. I was surprised to see how much effort she put into hers. She drew many pictures, asked me questions about my likes and dislikes, wrote about what we did last week together, and expressed how much she enjoys spending time with me. She is often very quiet, and I am hoping this is a way for her to share what she thinks more easily. When we were finished, we traded journals and planned to write to each other throughout this upcoming week.

Next, we played an icebreaker game using skittles. My little had never eaten skittles before, so this was not only a new game, but also a chance to try a new candy! We each took ten skittles from the bag, and for each skittle we ate, we had to ask the other a question. Some questions asked were: “What is your favorite food?” “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” “What do you like most about school?” and “What are your friends like?” She loved the skittles and loved asking me questions. We even talked about college, a word she was not very familiar with. I told her it is a place where you can learn to be whatever you want to be. Because I want to be a teacher, I have to go to college to learn how to teach. Hopefully she wants to talk more about her future and that I can encourage college to be something she looks forward to. After playing this game, we made bead necklaces and also worked on a puzzle while listening to the High School Musical soundtrack – her favorite music!

Today my little told me how she really enjoys the “cookies” we bring every week (a.k.a. graham crackers!) I think next time it would be a great idea to bring ingredients for making s’mores. She has never tried them before, and even though we do not have a fire to cook the marshmallows, I think she would enjoy them anyway! Next time I hope we have a chance to play some of the newly purchased games and paint. Now that I have a better idea of how to use our time together, our future meetings will be more comfortable and relaxed. I don’t think there will ever be a dull moment!