Saturday, April 2, 2011

Session 1: Honesty, 19 Mar 2011

Preparing for the session ahead by eating enough so that they'll have enough energy to shout at the kids (AHA just kidding)

The grammar focus of the day was on nouns. Each week, the kids have to complete task cards to get "stars" which they can exchange for little goodies in return! (:

Here, Phyllis briefs the volunteers on the activities for that night

Daniel is very proud of his gift mama-shop

Ooh the kids are here! :) (really, that's not Jing Rong hahahahaha)

Jing Rong recaps the 5 golden rules with them

Then we proceed with the lesson for the day! (The Boy Who Cried Wolf)

Mr Big Bad Wolf lurking behind the scenes, waiting to pop out and eat the sheep (children)

"Oh, I do feel quite faint! Don't eat me please!"

So, the moral of the story is to be honest and not tell lies! (otherwise no one will help you, and the wolf will eat you)

We then started with guided reading

Poor H is wondering why Teacher Daryl and Teacher Vincent are tormenting him with difficult questions

While poor Teacher Eugene face-palms himself because M has just posed him a difficult question too

The kids went home with lessons learnt about nouns and being honest :)

We would like to wish the March babies a very happy birthday too! Thank you for giving your time to the kids. We may not have any gifts for you, but you sure are a gift to the kids! (: (of course, this applies to each and every single volunteer okay?)

'Til next week then! (:

~YRS Comm :D~ 11:50 PM

Welcome!

About YRS

Yishun Reading Stars (Social-skills Training And Reading for Students) (YRS) is a program which aims to enhance every child's social and reading skills. The children are aged between 8-11 years old and are referred by the Educational Psychologists from the Student Centre. Some of them have limited exposure to English in their home environment, while others may have learning difficulties. YRS hopes to equip the children with some basic strategies to help them deal with their emotional needs. More importantly, we want the children to realise that they are SPECIAL in their own ways!

*Do note that we have blurred the children's faces to protect their privacy. However, we still hope that our entries will give you a good idea of what we do!

Activities

YRS usually carries out 12 sessions every academic semester. Each session is tailored to themes with a primary focus on promoting social interaction.

We devote half of every 90 minute session to Guided Reading, where volunteers attach themselves to a child and read a story to, or if possible, along with the kid. The focus is on helping the kid to improve his/her oral and reading comprehension of the story, so that the ultimate goal of independent learning through a love for reading may be achieved!

Besides the regular sessions, we organise camps and outings for the children too! :)

Quotable Quotes

"As we lead the children through the Guided Reading session, it really touches the heart to see them improving bit by bit, especially when they remember words that were taught the previous session" - Laura Lye

"Yishuners are really a team that cares about helping these kids and no matter how much time we put into volunteering for Yishun Student Care Service, it’s all worth it." - Tay Ming Hui

Volunteering

Our current season will be running from 25 February 2011 to June, with a 3-week break in between from 19 April to 6 May due to exams.

The satisfaction from being able to mould and shape a kid's future is priceless, and only when you personally experience it can you then understand it, so come on down to YRS to shape a child's future today!