Term 3 is Project Term over at the kids’ kindy.
And of all the topics, what topic should Noey’s class choose for their project after brainstorming with their teacher but LEGO! Mei’s class chose Duplo. What are the odds of that huh!
This is all right up my husband’s alley of course, so when they asked for parent volunteers, I felt he was obliged to volunteer and contribute to his children’s learning, and he gamely agreed to do.
That’s how my husband ended up going to school to kindy to talk about his favourite topic.
I think Daddies don’t get the opportunity to get involved in the classroom as often as Mummies do, so I know it was pretty special to Noey to have Papa there to share. He was tremendously happy to see us and I thought it was very cute when his teacher got the class to greet the husband as “Uncle D” that at the end of the chorus of greetings, Noey quietly added “I’ll call you Papa, ok?“. He then happily participated in the session and his Papa and I were both glad to see that he behaved well, raising his hand when he wanted to speak and taking his turn.
When I went to pick the kids up after school, Noey broke into a huge smile when he saw he and told me “I loved Papa’s show and tell!” That was, I told my husband, the best validation ever. If I needed an incentive to volunteer to help out more often, well there it was. It was a reminder that we are partners in our children’s learning journeys and every part that we can play makes a difference to them. We might teach them content, but more than that, when we make time to be present, we tell them that “you are important to me”. (Which reminds me, I’d better check with Mei’s teacher to see if she needs us to help out anywhere!)
I’m looking forward to seeing what Noey and his class come up with for their project at the end of term. I’m sure Papa would be proud!
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Clara says
I loved helping out at my kid's class too! It's always amazing to see their interactions during class time and there's this "my-Mommy-is-sitting-in-Teacher's-chair" wide-eyed look.
mummybean says
Yes, they are always so proud! Definitely fun to do this now before it becomes uncool for parents to be around 😛
Pamela Tan says
Ooooh love this! D seems to be enjoying himself too! hehehe
mummybean says
He did – it is his favourite topic anyway! It was a bit overwhelming with 20 excited kids though!
Susan Koh says
Yes D looked happy to impart his love and passion for Lego to the class of kids. Not very common to see daddies volunteer and it sure is a nice change.
L Lee says
Wonderful! his very own "show and tell" – that's hilarious!!
Charlotte says
Dear V,
Happy Lunar New Year !! Just catching up the blogs and wow, this task was not easy, not only about a topic we, parents keen on, but the preparation beforehand to present / communicate with children in kindergarten @@ so the children have to work on a project learnt from this ? it was also not a easy task @@
hugs,
Charlotte
Mummybean says
Hey Charlotte, I missed your comment! Thanks for leaving a note and I hope you had a great lunar new year 🙂 Actually Noey had a lot of fun during this term. The kindy just used Lego as a jumping board for language arts and learning. They also did Lego robotics and designed and built lamps out of Lego for group work. It was great, I thought. Love that they have such opportunities for creative learning!