Student Activities Blogs

Meg Carley

A Second Go-Round

It seems that my first blog wasn't half bad seeing as there was just a request put in for another blog from yours truly. Once the graduate assistant told me that they needed another blog I was quite surprised although, of course, I played it cool and took the news in stride. Now that I'm officially a blogger, I need to figure out how to keep all you readers out there interested. I've decided that my subject for this blog shall be my Jumpstart buddy, Dominick. Since I spend so much time during the week with him, he seemed like an obvious choice for my second blog.

During these past few weeks at Jumpstart we've mainly been focusing on rhyming and songs. There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly was a favorite for me back in the day and I was super excited when I got to read it to Dominick (it's an excellent rhyming book and has great illustrations in case you hadn't heard of it). Dominick gets a little confused with rhyming and he's not the world's greatest singer, but he definitely did his best to stay on top of his game. For example, when we were in circle time and everybody was supposed to learn the new song he didn't sing along the first day or the second day but on his third try he sang as loud as he could and knew all the words. It's that kind of determination that shows me just how worthwhile doing Jumpstart can be.

While Dominick may only be four years old he's taught me a lot over this past year. For one, he's showed me that overalls can still look good (by far my favorite outfit of his). Secondly, if you want to get anywhere you have to be persistent and determined. Dominick's still not the greatest at writing and he definitely struggles with reading but he doesn't let that stop him from trying every time I see him. Lastly, Dominick has learned at an early age that it's always best to keep yourself out of any sort of conflict.

Every day I see Dominick he's surrounded by some sort of conflict whether it be over two kids wanting the same toy or not being able to read the book he wants because somebody else has it and yet he's always able to keep a level head. I've rarely seen Dominick lose his temper and the amount of patience he has is extraordinary. Although my time with Dominick is almost over I think that I'll still be able to learn more from him during these last few weeks.

My time with Jumpstart is slowly coming to an end and I can honestly say it will be a strange feeling to have so much free time once it's over. Dominick has made a lot of leaps and bounds since I first met him back in November and I think he's only going to keep improving even after Jumpstart is over. I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog and Godspeed.