GHS Students Prepare to Run Their Own Daycare

Students in the Assistant Childcare Teacher class (ACCT) have recently started visiting local childcare centers in preparation for running their own preschool later in the semester.

The class, taught by Kayla Correll, is an opportunity for students who have taken Child Development to learn more about working with children.

“Students in this class are learning to be teachers, how to write lesson plans, how to work with children, etc,” Correll said.

Many of the students in the class are interested in becoming teachers, such as junior Alisa Carroll.

“The reason I’m taking ACCT is because I want to further my education for the career I want: teaching,” Carroll said.

Other students are interested in working with kids, but in different capacities.

“I plan on working with kids, I’m just not sure about the whole teaching thing.  I’m thinking of going more down the nursing path,” senior Taylor Schmidt said.

For some students, all they know is that they want to work with kids on a daily basis.

“I am not sure what job I want in this career, but I would like to have a job where I would work with kids,” junior Samantha Swenski said.

The thought of working with children is scary to some, but not for these students; they enjoy several different aspects of it, mainly the smiles.

“My favorite part of working with kids would be when they learn something new and their face lights up because they understand,” Swenski said.

The student-run preschool is called Little Paws Preschool, and it will be open May 8-24 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in room 137. The students will run the preschool during their first hour period which is ACCT class and will lead the kids through activities during this time. The program will only be open for a maximum of 10 students.

All the students are very excited for this opportunity.

“I am most looking forward to playing the role of a teacher and getting to create a lesson that is fun and exciting for the kids,” Swenski said.

The feeling that comes from teaching is something a lot of the students are looking forward to.

“I am looking forward to having the opportunity to teach kids different things and letting them know about the world,” Schmidt said.

In order to prepare to run Little Paws, the students have been visiting local childcare centers.

The main goal of the field trips is for students to expand upon their knowledge and experience when working with kids, and hopefully learn crucial information that will aid them in their careers in the future if they decide to take a job working with children.

“Going to different preschools to see how they are set up and see how the environments are different is my favorite part of the class,” Swenski said.

Correll is hoping that these trips are learning experiences for her students so that they can be the best teachers they can be.

“I would hope that students see their learning come to real life in their experiences with children at the Preschool,” Correll said. “I also hope that through these observations my students will be able to determine if working with kids is something they want to pursue for their future career.”

Correll thinks that through these experiences students will get a first hand look at what it takes to be a teacher.

“We did this same observation experience when we ran this class two years ago. Working with real children is an integral part of the learning in this class,” Correll said. “Preschoolers are so fun, but they can also make poor choices sometimes in their behaviors. Teachers that work with this age group need to have A LOT of patience and a persistent positive attitude so they can model these behaviors for the children. “