Week 1 of Teaching!!

So we have just finished our first week of teaching. Safiya and Mum have around 15-18 children, ages 2-5. But we also get some older girls on days they have been asked to look after younger siblings. We sing them our goodmorning song and then start with some nursery rhymes before settling down to some writing/maths practice such as doing colouring in of number sheets or copying names/alphabet. One day, the nursery was closed unexpectedly so we used chalk and the "outdoor" classroom and did writing on the floor. It was great fun. The nursery has a cold floor. this must be nice in summer but its winter now and feels very cold. Many of the children do not have trousers or socks or shoes and you can see them shivering after sitting on a cold floor. They all warm up when we get the toys out though! We have chosen some construction toys (lego) and creative/role play toys as these appeal to all ages and boys and girls alike. After this "freeplay" we do a story or learn new words. The children are really amazing at learning a new language. Safi is getting very good at Hindi too! Then its time to do the "handwashing and lotion" duty. This involves washing and drying each child's hands/face adn then applying lotion as many dont have access to clean water and this way they get to be nice and clean in time for lunch. Mum washes their hands, Safiya dries and Ritu, our Local coodinator, applies the lotion. We then come home for lunch, hungry and quite exhausted!