Blog 5

As you can tell the semester is coming to an end but the Lydia came to end a little bit sooner.  Working at the Lydia home was so much fun and I learned so much.  I thought I knew a lot but while working there I learned some things that I never thought I would have learned.  While working at the Lydia home, I learned that I am not just looking out for myself like I do when I’m here at school.  I have to look out for all the kids around me.  I hope the theme of friendship stays with me because I learned so much from those kids and we connected to well.  While working at the Lydia home the way the kids played with each other and the smiles on their faces when I walked in was awesome.  I could so tell that those kids were excited and so happy to see me.  Me seeing them happy to see me made me happy to see them. 

While being at the Lydia home, the biggest thing I learned was no matter what the person, place, or thing looks like always give it a chance.  The neighborhood the Lydia home is not in such a good neighborhood.  The building for the Lydia home does not look like an upbeat building and it kind of looks a little dumpy.  I will admit that the first time I arrived I was a little scared and did not know what to expect.  Once I arrived I felt so welcome from all the workers that work there.  While only being there for 30 minutes I knew I picked a good place to volunteer at.  My first impression on the kids is that they were going to be uneducated.  I was wrong about that.  The kids at the Lydia home were so smart.  I think the Lydia home taught me a lot but the biggest thing they taught me and i will remember for a long time is to not judge people or places so fast.  You first impression might not always be what it actually is and in my case it was not. 

My experience at the Lydia home was a great time.  The Lydia home was so welcoming and I am so happy of all the kids that I met at the Lydia home.  I have built a good relationship with some of the kids and the last day of work was actually sad.  I had a great time at the Lydia home and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things in life.

Blog 4

Now that I have been at the Lydia home a couple times, I am now reaching the end of my volunteering.  I have been working with a lot of kids but the kid I work with the most is a little boy named Davonte.  While going to the Lydia home for the first time and now being there for many weeks my perception on the kids have changed.  When I arrived to the Lydia home, my first perception on the kids was that they are uneducated and never wanting to do anything.  I received all that perception because of the neighborhood I had to walk through and also the building Lydia home was located in.  While being there for weeks, I have noticed that Davonte and all the other kids were not like that. 

While being at the Lydia home we always start off with snack time.  After snack time we get started on the homework.  I have been usually working with Davonte and I am always seeing improvement in his reading, math, and spelling.  Like I said before I did not think these kids never wanted to do school work.  Every time after snack time Davonte always is the one coming up to me and telling me what chapters in his book he finished the other days and also what he has to get done that day with me.  Joyce does not even tell me what chapters for him to do and also Joyce does not even tell Davonte what he has to do.  Davonte always comes to the Lydia home and wants to learn.  I never thought Davonte was going to be like that and my perception on him was way off. 

While being pretty much done with the Lydia home, it is really upsetting.  I have built such a strong connection with all the kids and they trust me with a lot of things. Like I said in my first blog, the kids were really shy when it came to talk to me.  Now the kids treat me like their friends and we get a long so much.  I have learned so much from the Lydia home.  The biggest thing i have learned was, to not be so judgmental on people.  I went into the Lydia home having a certain perception on the kids and now that I am done I do not want to leave because my perception has changed so much.  I have learned to not be so judgmental on people and i should definitely what until i get to know someone before I judge someone.

BLOG NUMBER 3

The next week when I arrived at the Lydia home I was helping a little boy named Davonte with reading.  I got to help him read some stories and also did some math homework.  After we finished doing the homework we got to go outside and play with the kids.  While being out there I noticed different things on how the kids were acting.  I was able to tell by the kids verbal and nonverbal communication if they wanted to play.  Some kids were really comfortable and just came up and asked me.  Some other kids would throw the ball towards me to try and get my attention and have me then make the first move asking if they wanted to play catch with a football or kick the soccer ball.  While the kids were acting this way I was able to relate back to class about what we talked about when it came to nonverbal and verbal communication.

During that day at the Lydia home, I learned that every kid is different.  I learned that some kids will get very comfortable with you and just come up and talked to you when others need to be asked.  I believe the kids acted this way because of the way they were grown up in there homes.  The Lydia home was a good day and every time I go i learn something new that is helpful.    

BLOG NUMBER 2

1)  When I arrived at the Lydia home I started working right away. When I started working it was snack time from 3:30-4:00.  I helped handing out juice and napkins to all the kids.  Once snack time was over I got assigned to work with a boy named Logan.  He had no homework to do so we sat down and Logan read me a book about a little bear and his friends wanting to go swimming.  Logan is in kindergarten and he is a pretty good reader for his age.  He was having a little trouble with some words but I was right there to help him with the reading.  I could tell he was a little nervous with me but later on in the day he was getting more comfortable with me.  After reading was done it was play time.  They got 30 minutes to play until the end of the day.  So from 5:00-5:30 I played pool with a little boy named Davonte.  While playing pool with Davonte I soon had four other kids playing with me.  The first time I went to the Lydia home it was a lot of fun and it was great working with the kids.  Working here for the next 12 hours will be a lot of fun.  Every time I go there the kids always say hello to me and I can tell they are more comfortable with me.

2)  When coming into the Lydia home I wanted to learn how to communicate with children.  I already was good with kids but with the major I am going into it will help me a lot if I am able to work and communicate with adults and children.  Communicating with children is a lot different than communicating with adults.  Logan was very shy with me at first because I was a stranger.  That is very normal for kids because I am a new person to them which they have no clue who I am and it could appear scary to them.  While working with Logan he eventually got more comfortable with me.  I also always knew that children have a very short attention span.  Children don't always pay attention or don't want to do work that they don't want to do.  During the day Logan progressively was getting more and more off task.  I kept telling Logan that he needs to stay focused to get his work done so he can play later in the day.  I knew I could not yell at Logan because he is a kid and that is how they act.  All I kept doing was telling him that if this work is not done he cannot play at 5:00.  I was learning more ways to communicate with the kids and they were getting more work done.

3)  Since I have been working at the Lydia home I have figures out many ways to communicate with children.  I have only worked there two days and I can already tell it is a lot different talking to the kids then it is with adults.  I have learned that if you become friends with the kids but still show that you are in control the kids will get a lot more done.  I always told the kids that if the work is not done then they will not be able to play games with me and they got really focused and got there work done.  Working with kids is a lot different but also have some similarities with adults. I still have many things to learn while working with children and will use them in the future.        

I have chose Lydia home because i love working and being around kids.  While being at the Lydia home my hopes are to learn better ways to communicate with the kids.  It is a great skill to know how to communicate well with adults and also children.  Especially with my major being Marketing and minoring in Sports Management i will always be around and working with people.  I would love to understand the kids and also build a great friendship with the kids so they feel loved.

My assumptions about going into the Lydia home is that i'm going to feel really upset for the kids.  Also its going to be really sad for the whole families because they struggle to provide for the kids.  I have never experienced that and seeing little ones suffer is so upsetting because the kids cant really do anything about it.

I assume that the Lydia home is always helping and trying to help the kids and families as best they can.  The Lydia home will be providing shelter, food, activities for the kids so the kids can have as best of a childhood as possible.  The Lydia home could possible help the families for a better education and then maybe provide them for a job in the future so they could possibly turn around there lives and start having a good future.  The Lydia home wants to show these kids that there is people in this world that truly care about them.  Also show them that people love them and are always willing to help them no matter what and will try to help them survive and also have a fun and great life.

Lydia home will go out and provide for anyone that needs it.  It is helping any families that have kids that need help.  They will probably be helping families that are very poor and don't have enough money to provide for there kids.  They will be helping people who are uneducated and also unemployed and need money.  Lydia home is helping anyone that needs it and anyone that is looking for help.  That is the reason for Lydia home to always be helping people.

The reason why Lydia home drew me in to help them out is because i wanna build a connection with all the kids.  I wanna make them feel loved and it makes me sad knowing there is kids out there that suffer and are not loved.  I want the kids to trust me and be comfortable around me.  I want the kids to feel special.