Not Like Other Kids...

I find myself, more often than not and more often than I should, comparing my SuperKids to the kids at my previous camp experience. So, coming in to SKC, I was prepared to have children just like the ones back home: eager to learn, giddy, short attention spans, and a serious case of the wiggles.

Maybe it's because my SuperKids are older. Maybe it's because they come from a bigger city. But, my SuperKids were not anything like my previous camp experience. Of course, they are playful and wiggly like all kids are. But, they are more defiant, chatty, slow to listen. My SuperKids are children who have formed personalities and habits that I was not expecting so I had to adapt to this new species of child. This meant giving them jobs when I can , because they are much more independent so they want to feel responsible. I had to be flexible with my lessons and plans because they were more than likely going to rebel against whatever I had to say. (I can't fault them for that. Math mingle is a ton of fun). I had to learn and am still learning how to redirect their desires to align with what we need to accomplish in the classroom, just as I have to learn how to respond to them and their needs because they are different than what I'm used to and what I was expecting.

Regardless, I think it's important for me not to play the comparison game, a lesson I'm learning with Superkids and in life. Despite all the times they've made me frustrated, confused, or shocked, I know that I'm just as endeared to my SuperKids as I am to my previous camp kids.