At NVD, a class of preschoolers gets to enjoy being at school without homework and with the fun of working with the “big kids.”
The Teens and Tots program consists of high school students from the child development class who work with the class of preschoolers at Northern Valley Demarest. The program, which has been around since at least 1979, consists of high school students creating lessons for the kids that engage either their fine or gross motor skills. Kathleen Di Gerolamo, who has been teaching Child Development at NVD for three years, has enjoyed getting to see the connection between the big and little kids each year.
“My favorite part is getting to work with both the high school students and the tots. Both groups learn and benefit from the experience,” Di Gerolamo said.
As for the high school students, they get to work with the tots about once a week on their fine and gross motor skills. The high school students try to create fun activities for the kids to do when they see them. They also focus on making sure that their fine and gross motor skills are up to par. Sophomore Sophia Pavlov remarked that the activities are both enjoyable and beneficial for the tots.
“Each week our activities alternate from fine (small muscles) skills to gross (large muscles) skills. Whenever we do fine motor skill activities, we make things out of playdough, we assemble bracelets, and we color. Whenever we do gross motor skill activities, we play Simon says, we dance, and play catch. All of these activities are designed to improve their skills and teach them about different topics,” Pavlov said.
The tots seem to have a great time during these activities, especially one tot named Kateri. She really enjoys doing the teen lessons and spending time with the older kids because of the fun activities that they get to do together.
“I like the fake food cooking lessons and the balloon teen lesson that we did,” Kateri said. Mrs. Di Gerolamo explained that the balloon teen lesson was when the students in Child Development 1 had the tots work on their gross motor skills by running like a penguin with a balloon between their legs.
Aside from the fun teen lessons that the tots enjoy, Di Gerolamo also loves to see students engage in the Child Development courses. In fact, students are now able to earn college credit if they take Child Development for all three years that it is offered, which Di Gerolamo hopes students will take advantage of.
“This just started, so it’s not something that has happened yet because we are only in year two, but that’s something that I am hoping for [in the future] … not all [the students] want to be teachers; a lot of them are talking about nursing, or occupational therapy, or physical therapy, or psychology, so being in these classes gets them the contact and the background information that will help them get there,” Di Gerolamo said.
Throughout the course of the program, many fond memories have been made between the little kids and teenagers. Whether it’s getting to know the children on a closer level, or engaging in fun activities with the tots, many memories have been made between the two groups.
“My favorite memory was when we went trick or treating throughout the school, [because] it was very heartwarming seeing all of the tots dressed up,” Pavlov said.
After teaching this program for three years, Di Gerolamo said that some of her favorite memories have been when she sees how happy the teenagers get when working with the tots and realizing that the tots remember who they are.
“My favorite memories are of seeing the high school students make a connection with the tots. They will come in and tell me ‘I was out in Target, and I saw Enzo and he said hello to me and knew who I was!’ Those are my favorite stories because I see how happy that makes the high school students,” Di Gerolamo said.
The high school students also enjoy just getting to hang out with the kids and have fun with them each week, according to Pavlov. The tots know how to light up a room with their energy, which brings frequent smiles to the high school students’ faces.
“My favorite part of working with the kids is seeing them smile and have fun. They bring light to my day and never fail to make me laugh, [and] whenever I am having a stressful day, working with them always makes me feel better,” Pavlov said.
