Working with Children

 

Teaching Support

Preparing for your trip properly will help you to fully enjoy your placement. If you are going to be working with kids during your placement we strongly recommend you browse online to find fun and exciting things to do with the children that don't require much resources.

What follows below is some information to help you prepare for your teaching related placement.

• Caring for Young Children
• Helping Children with Low Self-Esteem
• Working at an Orphanage
• Working with Underprivileged Children
• Working as a Classroom/Teaching Assistant

Caring for Young Children

Creches & Nurseries are designed to help - where possible - the problems of finding child care for parents who are in part-time work, full time education, retraining or who simply need time to themselves if they are a lone parent and have no other source of child care to fall back on.

For the most part you duties will be to supervise and oversee the well being and physical safety of those children under your care. You will be asked to provide them with fun and interesting tasks to perform and games to play which may include painting, drawing, reading, singing songs, making things and a whole range of other activities designed to stir up the creativity and imagination of a young child.

A distinct advantage is an understanding of children and their psychology. A child left on his or her own with strangers can be a child prone to distress and temper tantrums and it is up to you as a member of the crèche team to be as patient and comforting with that child as is possible - almost assuming the role of a mother figure for the time that their mother is not around.

Helping Children with Low Self-Esteem

It is remarkably easy to spot such a child, especially in the school environment. Many children will be chatty, outgoing, always laughing and eager to participate in group tasks as a means of proving themselves. Children who are low in self-esteem tend to shrink into the background and do not to be asked questions or to be included in group activities as they feel they are not worthy.

It is not always easy trying to deal with a child suffering from low self-esteem. Children who feel as though they have nothing to contribute will often avoid conversations with adults as well as other children, fearing that adults will ridicule them or consider their input to be worthless. It can take time to get through to such a child but it is worth persevering. Try engaging them in a subject they enjoy; if they enjoy art then why not suggest they draw something for you? Likewise if English is their forte why not encourage them to read a book that you can engage them in discussion about?

A child who has issues with their level of self-esteem and confidence will often find it difficult to be part of a group especially in a school environment. It is important that if you encounter such a child - either in a role as a teacher or learning mentor - that you do not draw attention to these issues especially where the other children are concerned.

Working at an Orphanage

Orphanages are designed to offer help and support to children who have suffered traumas or emotional problems and/or are left without a family to care for them due to bereavement or because of instances of neglect.

Every effort is made to ensure that live within these children’s home runs as smoothly and as normally as possible and as such the children are encouraged to interact with each other and engage in social activities that might allow for a flourishing of character and personality – something that may have been stilted away from the home.

Regular mentoring sessions are held and it is important that all parties are kept up to date on the welfare and progress of the children.

Working with Underprivileged Children

Unfortunately it is a sad fact that there are many underprivileged children in Ghana today. These children may be classed as underprivileged for any number of reasons.

Here are the most common:

• Orphaned or abandoned
• Living in poor housing conditions
• Living in impoverished conditions
• Lack of school education

Most children in Ghana who are orphaned are still in some way supported by their extended family or their social group. Societal bonds are quite strong in Ghana.

Working as a Classroom/Teaching Assistant

A classroom assistant is someone who will aid a teacher in the teaching of his or her classes by spending time with the pupils – who are normally of primary school age – during class time. The role of a classroom assistant is to assist with those classes where numbers are high and the teacher is required to spend most of his or her time teaching the entire class as opposed to spending time on a one to one basis.

Typically classroom assistants will help with any of the following:

• Preparing the classroom for lessons
• Listening to children read
• Telling the children stories or reading to them
• Assisting with maths
• Helping children who need additional support in class
• Assisting with school outings or sports days

Again not an exhaustive list but a list which certainly contains many of those tasks which make the classroom assistant an invaluable aid for any teacher – especially those teachers who have high class numbers or classes containing problematic children.

It is also worth mentioning that – as a classroom assistant – your time may not always been spent on site and you may be required outside the normal school hours if outings or after school clubs take place. Again this varies from school to school but if you are enthusiastic and motivated then this will not be a problem for you.

Being a classroom assistant can be a rewarding and character-building occupation, which has led to many classroom assistants continuing their study in order to become full time, qualified teachers.

Source: www.workingwithkids.co.uk

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