3-year-old Paris does not know who Ernie is. I think this means I’m old.

Three-year-olds do not ever sit still. They can be sitting, but they are not still. They just don’t ever stop moving.

It’s adorable.

I spent my first Volunteer Odyssey day with five little wiggly, giggly three-year-olds at Porter Leath Early Head Start. It was a slow day in the room run by Ms. Angela and Ms. Patience, due to Veterans Day. The room normally has eight little ones, and I can only imagine the amount of movement when the whole group is there. I’ve honed my reading-aloud skills over years of babysitting and helping out in my Mom’s first grade classrooms, so I felt right at home with my first task, reading “Franklin Goes to a Sleepover”. The kids giggled at the story and shouted words back at me. It was so much fun!

Here, they demonstrate how to huff and puff while Ms. Patience reads “The Three Little Pigs”

Porter Leath began as an orphanage and has occupied the same Memphis real estate, a large compound on Manassas, since 1850. Early Head Start has been providing early intervention and child development services since 1998. Countless studies affirm the benefits of early childhood education, showing that children who receive this intervention are more likely to graduate from high school and own houses, and are much less likely to repeat grades, need special education, or to get into trouble with the law.

Those statistics don’t matter to Issac. He’s just excited to have someone to play the Sesame Street match game with him, and I’m happy to oblige. As he pairs the cards together, he names the characters and counts them, first in Spanish, then in English. He’s all the way to 12 before he’s distracted by my attempt to take pictures.

Cameras are fun!

What an advantage Issac will have when he begins school – he can count to 12 at three years old! He also, along with his classmates, knows all of the days of the week, all of the months of the year, and his birthdate. The teachers make a game of the knowledge, putting instruction into songs and rhymes during morning circle time. All of the lessons are dispersed in fun play, so these children are learning in age appropriate ways, which is great – but it also explains why they are so excited. Recess might include lessons in fair play, sharing, taking turns, and motor skills, but to them, it just seems like running, jumping, and sliding.

All of the kids at Porter Leath EHS, from 6 months to 3 years, are either from low income families and neighborhoods or experience some sort of disability. These are children who will benefit most from early intervention because they are traditionally the children who most easily fall behind once they start school.  I was so glad to be a part of the class this morning. Judging from the hugs I got before I left, the kids see me as another friend, but I also know that, without even realizing it, I am another voice supporting them, showing them that someone cares about them and believes they can learn. Hopefully I will be another adult who, just because I will come read a story or play a game, reinforces their value and the value of learning.

The kids won’t think about any of that, they’re too busy having fun at school. I’m pretty sure that’s the best lesson they could learn.