20S14

For Service Learning Day 2021, our class managed to secure a face-to-face visit to Hougang Sheng Hong Society Student Care Centre. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 safety management measures, only 7 of us and our form teacher were able to conduct the service learning project at the organisation.

Our main activity planned for this service learning was storytelling as requested by the student care centre. Hence, we chose a ‘Choose-your-own-adventure’ type of storybook titled ‘The Cave Of Time’ by Edward Packard. We also made props which included mini caves and standees of characters in the story.

During our visit there, each of us were entrusted to 7 other children of ages 7 to 12 and we conducted the storytelling within our small groups. The storytelling was made engaging and interactive by allowing the children to unanimously decide on which ‘path’ to take in the story, and hence enabling them to choose their preferred storyline.

Student A:

1) Experience rating: 8/10

2) Biggest success: Planning and completing this project well with no regrets and being able to see that our project definitely made a meaningful impact on us and on our beneficiaries

3) Biggest difficulty: The children were very hyperactive, loud, and easily distracted and so it was hard to control them and grab their attention.

4) Something you learnt: I have to be patient with the children and keep my cool even if they give us a hard time. What matters at the end of the day is that all of us have fun and enjoyed each other’s company

5) Something you could improve more on: Engage the children better so that their attention will not drift away so easily.

6) Other thoughts: It was a pity that only 7 of us could go for this service learning. I’m sure that the rest of the class would have enjoyed this experience as much as we did.

Student B:

1) Experience rating: 100/10

2) Biggest success: Surprisingly, I felt that I could connect with the kids very well and they also felt very comfortable around me. It was very easy to communicate with them and make them laugh.

3) Biggest difficulty: I did not face any difficulty in trying to read the story, talk to them or getting everyone included. Sometimes, it was difficult to capture their attention for a long time.

4) Something you learnt: During the 1st hour, those kids who are introverted felt more included by going along with the flow of the story and at the moment when we were all laughing together.

I have learnt to make sure that more attention is given so that they feel more inclusive and comfortable with me.

5) Something you could improve more on: I could have stayed more on track with the suggested timeline as I spent most of my time entertaining the kids by talking to them and telling them other stories instead of the book.

6) Other thoughts: I had quite an enjoyable time with the kids and would not mind going back to volunteer again.

Student C:

1) Experience rating: 6/10

2) Biggest success: The props really got the children’s attention. They were really interested in the sticks and caves and when I was holding it and using them it really helped get their attention. However, this created its own set of problems as the kids were playing with the props.

3) Biggest difficulty: maintaining their attention. They got distracted easily and the story was not appropriate for their age ( My group had P1 kids so a lot of them could not understand the vocabulary). Although the props were attention-grabbing, the children became more interested in the props than the story.

4)Something you learnt: Being too friendly may not be good , you must be strict and maintain order.

5) Something you could improve more on: Be a bit more firm in their instructions and choose a book they understand better. furthemore, I feel that the ratio of kids to volunteers can be better because when there are so many kids it can be very hard to maintain discipline especially when they are so young.

6) Other thoughts: Overall good experience but many things to improve and learn from. This was quite scary as well .

Student D:

1) Experience rating: 7/10

2) Biggest success: Interacting with the children as the groupings allowed many of us to interact with the children relatively easily in an informal setting. The materials and goods given to children were great and left the children elated.

3) Biggest difficulty: Due to social distancing measures and the short time we had with the children, it prevented us from getting to know the children better.

4) Something you learnt: Patience and how to treat younger children with respect.

5) Something you could improve more on: We could have broken the ice more as children were weary for the first half of the session.

6) Other thoughts: It is incredibly difficult to care for children and I must be thankful for parents who have to put up with the incessant chaos.

Student E:

1) Experience rating: 6/10

2) Biggest success: I was able to use the props to capture children’s attention and managed to get to the different endings.

3) Biggest difficulty: The children were easily distracted and not interested in storytelling as they wanted to do another activity and thought we had something else planned out for them.

4) Something you learnt: To be prepared and adaptable to unexpected situations that may arise. Be more accommodating with the kids too.

5) Something you could improve more on: Improve on getting the children's attention, choose a more engaging storybook. It was difficult to handle 7 kids at a time so probably a smaller group of kids would be more manageable.

6) Other thoughts: Overall I think it was an enriching experience, planning the project and seeing that the project was successful and interacting with younger kids was fun but intimidating at the same time.