21S08

For our service learning, we played games with three different age groups of children in primary schools: primary 1s and 2s, primary 3s and 4s and primary 5s. Hence, we did our best to cater the different games to suit each age group’s understanding level. We tried to focus on conducting games that would improve their listening and communication skills, along with analytical and critical thinking skills. Through these games, the children had a lot of fun while also picking up some important skills that would be extremely useful as they grow older.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was keeping them engaged though our SL Day had to be conducted over zoom due to the pandemic. It was quite tough to communicate with them and we had to put in extra effort to ensure that all, if not most of the students were paying attention to us. However, in the end, the message we intended to get across was still able to be conveyed, with the help of the teachers on-site at Gan Eng primary school. We also learnt that the attention span of the little children can be short and that it took a considerable amount of time to get them to settle down before we could begin our activities.

From this experience, our entire class has learnt to be more patient since we were handling young children. We also felt first-hand how enjoyable playing games and trying to teach children was. After SL Day ended, all of us were very happy that we could play a part in such a memorable experience. It filled our hearts with warmth as the children all sadly said goodbye to us with some saying they would miss us. Because of this, planning what activities to do and carrying them out on SL Day was a fruitful experience as we managed to put a smile on each of the children’s faces. We were quite surprised by how much energy the children had and how enthusiastic they were while participating in the games and activities.

All in all, we learnt that our preconceived notions of children being tough to handle were wrong as they were all very sweet and wanted to learn from us. Our communication skills also improved greatly since engaging them is different from engaging with people our age or older. We also learnt from the children themselves since they had such a positive attitude towards learning. Hence, we wanted to be more like them and be more receptive towards our school teachers when they try to teach us new things in school.

We hope that for next year's SL Day, we can go down to the school to meet all of them!