Mommy Helper at Kindergarten

Myers REALLY misses his big Sissy (that's what he calls her most of the time) when she is at Kindergarten.  I'll be honest, I really miss her too!

So I was super-duper excited when her teacher asked for parent participation in the classroom, and gladly volunteered once I realized that it would be okay to bring Myers along as well.  He spent the morning in his stroller, while I spent the morning helping out in class.

It was amazing to witness first hand how much and how quickly the boys and girls are going to be learning this school year.  Reagan's Kindergarten teacher firmly believes in "whole brain teaching," so the classroom setting is very hands-on and extremely fun.  Human brains learn in five ways, by seeing (visual cortex), hearing (auditory cortex), doing (motor cortex), speaking (Broca's area) and feeling (limbic system).  Whole Brain Teaching believes the brain learns best when all five of these regions are involved simultaneously.  (Whole brain teaching at Reagan's age level encompasses four primary categories: seeing, saying, hearing, and doing.)  I was very impressed with how effective and efficient this teaching style really is... Mrs. Dreyer can certainly get results from these young learners!  I'll be honest, I was expecting to see something along the lines of organized chaos that was primarily based on playtime with a bit of education mixed in.  But what I witnessed was a classroom full of boys and girls that were eagerly listening, reacting, paying attention, reading, writing, counting... to put it simply, LEARNING... all done in a way that made them feel that they were playing when what they were really doing was working their little brains to the maximum levels.  It was awesome!

I've signed up to continue to be the Mommy helper once a week for as long as Myers will willingly and quietly continue to hang out in his stroller in the back of the classroom.  I'm sure the day is coming soon when he will be too much of a distraction, as he is already beginning to interact with the students!  But for now, I am thrilled to be able to be in the classroom with Reagan.

It's even making me entertain the idea of becoming a Kindergarten teacher myself!