Story time at the Arc!

The arc is a nonprofit organization that has many different locations around the United States. Over the summer and the past couple weekends I have been working for and with the members of the Arc Shiawassee. It is a place where those with disabilities can come and can be themselves and not get judged by others because they are different. There is a wide range of ages that come and participate in the activities that the arc holds, anywhere from 1st grade to 34 years old. Because there is such a wide range in ages and disabilities, being a Special education major and wanting to me in an elementary school I tend to gravitate towards the younger children. We do things such as math worksheet or games to that everyone can help each other when they are struggling, we talk about the weather, but my most favorite time of the day is story time.

Since TE 348 has started I have read the children Voices in the park, with which Anthony Browne illustrates, and two different versions of the three little pigs; the original folk tale and the one that is by David Wiesner. The children can pick out things that I never would have thought of or even noticed. They point out how in The Three Pigs by Wiesner that the pigs are very “cartoonish” in the story yet when they leave the story and are in their own world they become real. They have hair and their noses look moist and pink just as if it were a real pig. This lead to me asking questions just to see what they would say, as well as listen to some of their questions and see what their peers thought about that same event

I never thought that a children’s literature class would benefit me as much as it has and I’m not even in a classroom yet. This class has taught me that children are children and they always will be, that just because we are adults doesn’t meant that we cannot look through their eyes. I have learned that nothing is better than sharing stories with others, because no matter who they are, they will learn something from you and you will learn something from THEM.