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Denise Schlichting has been a volunteer at our partner project Boomerang since mid-October 2016 and describes what her daily work at the kindergarten is like:
The head of the kindergarten, Memory, and I have agreed on fixed working hours. I start every morning at around 8 a.m. and then work until 2 p.m., until the children start their nap and the busiest parts of the programme are finished.
My morning starts by either playing outside in the playground with the children who are already in kindergarten, or by playing board games with some of the children (Max Mümmelmann is particularly popular with the children at the moment). At around half past nine there is a morning circle, which is usually led by Memory. By this time, most of the children have arrived at the kindergarten. In the morning circle we sing songs together and the children are asked which day of the week it is and they count. Breakfast is served after the morning circle. The children get their food from home for breakfast. My main task at breakfast is to make sure that every child has something to eat and that there is enough. Furthermore, I always allocate the children to their groups for breakfast (we have a lion group, an elephant group and a giraffe group).
I then look after the lion group during breakfast. I help the younger children in the kindergarten to eat and I feed some of the babies. After breakfast, I help to wipe down the tables and chairs and sweep the group room. In the time between breakfast and the project lesson, which takes place every day, I do administrative tasks for Memory that arise in between. This includes, for example, creating new registration forms and evaluation sheets and collating the costs for the graduation party. When there are no administrative tasks, I play with the children on the playground or in the sandpit and I am mainly there to talk to the children in English so that their English improves and they can eventually converse in English without any problems.
I also help the teachers to prepare the project lesson. This includes, in particular, preparing the materials for the project lesson. The project lesson starts every day at around 11.15 am. Here, too, I usually take over the lion group. During this lesson, I take two to three children at a time and carry out the respective project with them, which I have previously discussed with my colleagues. I really enjoy watching the progress of the individual children! When we are finished with our groups, the children can go out to play in the playground and then there is storytime.
This is often done by Memory. In between, however, the other teachers and volunteers also take over storytime and read a story to the children. After storytime, we divide the children into their groups again and I help to distribute the food prepared in our kitchen and look after the lion group during lunch. After lunch, I also help clean the tables and chairs and sweep the group room so that the children can play outside again. Once everything is clean, I help to spread out the mattresses in the group room for the afternoon nap. The last item on my programme is to brush the teeth with the lion group. Here it is particularly important to ensure that there is no chaos and to help the younger children in particular to brush their teeth properly. After brushing their teeth, it's bedtime for all the children.
Of course, no two days are the same at Boomerang Kindergarten and there are many different tasks. The most important thing is to be able to help out in many different places and, above all, to offer your help yourself and approach other colleagues. Due to the variety of tasks, it is guaranteed never to be boring at Boomerang and you gain lots of new impressions.
Thank you, Denise, for your great commitment!
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Denise Schlichting has been a volunteer at our partner project Boomerang since mid-October 2016 and describes what her daily work at the kindergarten is like:
The head of the kindergarten, Memory, and I have agreed on fixed working hours. I start every morning at 8 o’clock and then work until 14:00, when the children begin their afternoon naps and the most elaborate activities are finished.
My morning begins with either playing outside on the playground with the children who are at the kindergarten or playing board games with some of the children (Max Mümmelmann is currently very popular with the kids). At about 9:30, there is a morning circle, which is usually led by Memory. By this time, most of the children have arrived at the kindergarten. During morning circle, we sing songs together, ask the children what day of the week it is, and count. After morning circle, we have breakfast. For breakfast, the children eat the food they brought from home. My job at breakfast is to make sure that every child has something to eat and that it is enough. I also always assign the children to their groups for breakfast (we have a Lion Group,
which I am responsible for during breakfast). I help the younger children at the kindergarten with their food, and I feed some of the babies. After breakfast, I help wipe down the tables and chairs and sweep the group room. In the time between breakfast and the project hour, which takes place every day, I do administrative tasks that arise for Memory. These include, for example, compiling new registration and evaluation forms and calculating the cost of the graduation party. If no administrative tasks arise, I play with the children on the playground or in the sandbox and am mainly there to speak to the children in English,
In addition, I help the teachers prepare the project hour. This particularly involves preparing the materials for the project hour. The project hour starts every day at 11:15. Here again, I mainly take care of the Lion Group. During this hour, I take two to three children and carry out a project with them that I have previously discussed with my colleagues. It gives me great pleasure to watch each child’s progress! If we are completely finished with our group, the children can play briefly on the playground again, and then there is story time.
This is often led by Memory. But in between, the other teachers and volunteers also take over story time and read the children a story. After story time, we divide the children into their groups again, and I help distribute the food prepared in our kitchen and supervise the Lion Group during lunch. Even after lunch, I help clean the tables and chairs and sweep the group room; at this time, the children can play outside again. Once everything is clean, I help distribute the mattresses for nap time in the group room. The last item on my schedule is to go to the Lion Group to brush their teeth. Here, it is particularly important to ensure that no chaos breaks out and, above all, to help the younger children brush their teeth properly. After brushing their teeth, it is bedtime for all the children.
Of course, the Boomerang Kindergarten, no two days are the same and it covers a wide range of different tasks. The important thing is to be able to help out in many areas and especially to offer his help by himself and reach out to the other fellow. The variety of tasks it will never be bored in Boomerang and to win many new impressions.
Thank you, Denise, for your great commitment!
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