Today was the first day for the kiddies to come to school. I was nervous because they really don't know too much English and I wasn't sure how they would react to me.
The kids arrived one at a time with their parents which was a HOT MESS. The parents kept hanging around, coming in and out of the room. It made getting the kids settled a task. Although they were asked to leave I could see them peeking through the windows.
As was to be expected there were some who cried for 30 minutes straight, some had to be chased down and brought back and a few just sat quietly and refused to move. I had to do a lot of hugging and holding and sweet talking.
Eventually we were able to get them sitting on the rug and listening to a story, an amazing feat considering that it was the first day. I also had them practice sitting criss-cross applesauce. They even got up and danced to a little song I sang with them.
They were responsive which surprised me. I didn't expect that they would responded to me so well from the jump. They didn't ignore me when I tried to talk to them which is good and they even let me hug them when they were crying, well except for one kid who just refused to have anything to do with me or the Arabic teacher.
I learned a few key words in Arabic so I think I fooled them, lol. Let's see how long I can keep up the charade.
My co-teacher and I are working together to create a fun and safe learning environment. So far we get along really well and she is open to listening and working with me. It's great that we can sit together and plan and laugh despite our totally different backgrounds. I can only pray that this relationship will get stronger and better as the months go by. Inshallah.