End of September, and things are starting to settle!

We continued on our familiarization with the neighbourhood of Little Portugal last week by taking a long walk to our pick-up location, and in the meantime, paying attention to landmarks and places of interest. We managed to stop at a bakery for a little break and to enjoy some pastel de nata (Portugese egg tarts). Along the way, we charted our route on a little map and made note of all the major street names.

We had a few days cut short last week as well, due to the Dewson School barbecue (would you believe that line-up?), and a last-minute change of plan due to weather. We still managed to adapt our outdoor blindfold games to a small basement room, taking turns looking for objects behind the blindfold.

Because the kids seem quite interested in the library (and because it's conveniently located near the school), we've decided to make it a weekly visit. Kat took the kids on Monday and they all managed to find some exciting and hilarious books.

And today was CLAY DAY! It's amazing how much fun a big chunk of grey goo could be. The kids made all sorts of little figures and even tried their hands at blindfolded sculpting, and were quite adept at it!

Exploring our neighbourhood, one day at a time.

The last couple weeks have nurtured substantial growth in the children's comfort and bonding with each other. They are getting into a routine now. Finish school, meet teacher at the tree and then head over the the flat rocks for a snack. The boys often zoom off to play footie for as long as they can, burning off all their energy and getting excited, while the girls decide to play tag or hand clapping games. It's nice to see the mentorship forming between the children that are only a year older, with the younger kids. It's interesting what a difference a year makes at this young age.

Last week we wrote out a list of acceptable behaviours and emphasized the way we should be acting in after-school groups. The kids were mostly responsive to the ideals (respect, appreciation, rights etc) and they enjoyed signing the paper to show they'd participated.

This week we explored Little Portugal and talked about why it was called that, and spoke a little about different neighbourhoods in Toronto. Yesterday we took a trip to the College-Shaw library on the way home from school. It seems they all love to read,  it was refreshing to watch them gather around each other while they took turns reading aloud.

-kb

Apples, markets, and new friendships, all in the first week!

Congratulations parents, for making it to the first weekend of the school year! Put your feet up and take it easy this weekend.

I'm happy to see close bonds being formed by the children in our group, and seeing them call out to one another in the schoolyard anticipating an action-packed afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing these friendships develop over the course of the school year.

We've been all over the place this week: Students learned about Rosh Hashanah on Wednesday (and enjoyed delicious apples and honey), had a scavenger hunt at the Dufferin Grove Farmer's Market on Thursday, and walked down to Trinity Bellwoods Park today to meet up with the Crawford group (The Cycling Giants!) for some hilarious group games and soccer. There were a few familiar faces to some of the kids, and plenty of new friends. The Crawford teachers and I hope to make this a somewhat regular thing while the weather permits, so we'll keep you updated on these meet-ups.

Happy Friday everybody, and see you next week!

A FUN FIRST DAY

Hi Dewson Afterschool Community!

We had a pretty eventful first day yesterday afternoon (games, bus rides, a new group name - The Pouncing Pumas!), and I'm excited to work with such a great group of kids. 

Thank you so much for your patience as we ironed out some of the details in regards to meeting place and transportation. 

Also, please check the google Calendar for a change to this week's location for Rosh Hashanah celebrations. We will return to the scheduled calendar next week.

To a second day as fun as our first!