Winter mornings can be dreary; summer mornings can be stifling and when you wake up alone after a long and happy marriage, any morning can be gloomy. But I'm fortunate because once I'm up and dressed, I get to spend many of my mornings doing speech therapy at the Bertha Alyce Campus, the preschool at the Jewish Community Center in Houston. Who could feel anything but joy, walking down the hall at BAC?
Artwork and photographs and classroom stories splash color all over the walls. The sound of children's laughter (and sometimes tears at parting from Mommy) fill the air. And sometimes the smell of popcorn or cookies baking wafts to my nose.
This is a place where teachers engage children in activities that stimulate creativity as well as encourage learning, Last year one of the pre-k classes learned about famous artists and did paintings in their various styles, then invited parents to their "museum" to view their work. I made a special trip back to the J to visit the museum and was amazed at the children's work and their poise at presenting it to their families,
Last week the two-year-olds were learning about transportation. When they focused on cars, they had a class car wash...yes, an actual car wash. When I left the building, I saw them busily washing their teacher's car. Will they ever forget about cars? Not a chance.
I feel lucky to be able to work there with children who have speech and language issues. Even though I'm not actually on their staff, I feel very much at home and look forward to spending time there.
Stop back next week for #3 in my "What Makes Me Happy" posts.
Have a happy Thanksgiving.
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