This week, I did my fist volunteer. In the morning, I went to the early childhood center. While I was waiting, there were some cute kids coming. It was so nice to meet a lot of naïve and cheerful children. It made me be full of energy.
After the orientation, I participated in one class and then introduced myself. Children were curious about where Taiwan is. Some children were confused about Taiwan and Thailand. Some children talked me that they have eaten Chinese food. They tried to find some connection with me.
In the morning, every child chose what they wanted in the first session, including painting, mosaic, housekeeping, blocks, puzzle. The second session, a teacher led the warm up activity and storytelling to inspire children shared their ideas and stories.
I got some thoughts from this service-learning. The center creates a liberal environment to children. Children learn how to make a decision since they are little. They can move around whenever they want. Compare it with my country, I think teachers would expect children pay an attention to a class in a certain time. I am not sure if children are allowed to go around the classroom in Taiwan now. However, when I was a child, I was not allowed to do it. I had to stay on my chair in class. Actually, from human development, it is better to provide a space to children to move freely.
On the other hand, children in America usually have to tell teachers what they think and to choose what they want, so they get used to express themselves. In Taiwan, teachers usually provide same material to children in class, so children don’t have as many chances as American children to speak out their needs.
I really want to visit other children centers in Taiwan to know how teachers teach children whether the learning environments are changing now. In addition, I can share my observations here to the teachers in Taiwan.
