Friday, December 12, 2008

All About Me

Tonight’s read-aloud at the homeless shelter was “All About Me.” These are children who are often searching for their own self-worth.

For starters we made permanent name tags. They like anything that involves stickers. They could write their names or use glittery sticker letters. You can imagine what most of them chose to do. They loved the idea of hanging a badge around their neck.


A 4-year-old little girl explained to me that she was covering her nametag in glittery stickers so people would think she was pretty. I reminded her that she was beautiful even without her glitzy nametag.

The favorite book of the evening was “I Love My Hair.” It talked about the many different ways a young girl could wear her hair. We then talked about the ways boys could wear their hair, too. The reader was a new 17-year-old African-American volunteer, who could provide her own personal experience in hair-styling.


The children were exceptionally attentive so we read lots of books, with titles like “It’s OK to Be Different” and “Incredible Me.”

For an activity, each child filled out a personal information sheet. They loved jumping on my neighbor’s scale to be weighed and standing in front of the tape measure on the back of the door to determine their height. Then they did a self-portrait to complete their personal data.

They selected a give-away book to take “home” and we put a special name plate in each book so they would know who it belonged to. The name plates seemed as important as the books themselves.

Each child took away a tape measure so they could continue to measure their height. When you are 7, a few inches of growth mean a lot!

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kids never forget when adult pay attention to who they are and compliment them!

I remember the first time my mom let me weigh myself on one of those big scales that gave your weight and fortune for a dime. I was a little kid and weighed almost 30 pounds. I can't recall what the fortune said though. I always liked having my hair brushed at night, my mom or my oldest sister would always do that. That kind of attention meant more than anything.

8:27 AM  
Blogger Kristin said...

I'm sorry I missed it! Sounds like a good night.

9:16 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Anon -- We all need reassurance at any age, but kids especially need it. You can tell these kids need some stroking.

Kristin -- We missed you, but the kids behaved so well, just as they had for you last week.

9:21 AM  
Blogger Steve Reed said...

Those kids will remember all that activity for years to come!

1:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When you're a kid, being really "seen" by an adult can leave such a lasting imprint. To this day I remember occasions from childhood when a teacher, or parent of a friend, or relative, really "got" me and cared to relate to me for real, in my "me-ness." I draw on those memories in my work often, and in daily life, too, because they help me remember that every pebble tossed, and every word spoken, create a ripple effect, and we have no way of knowing what longer-range imprints or waves we may be generating. Of course, that knowledge doesn't seem to stop me from occasionally heaving a big ol' boulder into the water and initiating a tsunami! :-)

Anyway, your time w/the kids is inspiring to read about. Thanks for sharing it!

2:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Of all the amazing and wonderful things you do, Barbara, I admire you most for this activity. You recently posted something about people who touch your life.......you may never know which of these children will remember you and your volunteer reading buddies, but I am certain that the numbers who do will not be insignificant!

Kate

6:43 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Steve -- I'm hoping the tape measure will remind them how important they are every time they use it!

Anon -- I love the concept of the pebble causing the ripples. I hope some of those ripples carry them out of this cycle of poverty and disappointment.

Kate -- My wonderful Blogger friend who is not Anon by choice! The truth is I get just as much from this activity in my life as the children do. It just feels so good. Wish you were here. I would drag you to Anacostia to help since many of my friends are fearful of that area.

8:27 PM  
Blogger Kate said...

You would not have to drag me. I wish there were a program here like yours but alas this is an adults only community. Perhaps there is one in a nearby town. I will research that after the New Year.

Looking forward to spending some time with you next month.

(Wow......blogger is allowing me to be "me"!)

10:19 AM  
Blogger Gary said...

Barbara - I am terribly behind in my blog reading (which I really enjoy) because I am wrapping up my college courses with final papers, etc. But I really wanted to comment on this post - which I read a few days ago - because it is SO wonderful. There are many fantastic books that encourage children to feel good about themselves, whatever that may be. The Todd Parr book you mentioned happens to be one of my favorites. But the extension activities you provided and the sense of importance you bestowed upon these children who have so little is priceless.

If I am ever in your area when you are doing any of this I would love to come and be a guest reader. Thanks for all that you do.

9:00 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Kate -- I'm looking forward to your visit!

Gary -- Please do come be a guest reader. They love having male volunteers because they all so need father figures in their lives.

I was just thinking about you today as I pondered what I might use as a theme in January. The books your kids read would be just about the right level. Last January we did SNOW and cut out snowflakes. Let me know if you have some good ideas!

9:23 PM  
Blogger Gary said...

Books about snow are fantastic for January. I am assuming you read the book Snow by Uri Shulevitz but some other great titles are:

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
A Hat for Minerva Louise by Jane Morgan Stoeke
When Will it Snow? by Marty Crisp
Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson
Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan
The Snow Child by Freya Littledale
Winter Rabbit by Patrick Yee
The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler

There are SO many wonderful children's books with a snow theme! I love them all.

For an activity cutting snowflakes is always a fantastic option. Also designing your own snowmen on paper by cutting white construction paper and putting the circles on black construction paper or using white chalk on black construction paper. For a more involved activity you could get various sizes of Styrofoam balls and attach them with toothpicks and then decorate them with google eyes and bits of cloth, etc. It just depends on how open ended you want the activity to be.

In a pinch just smearing shaving cream on a cookie sheet and drawing in it with your finger provides a messy good time.

9:52 AM  

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