Reflection On Service Education

INTRODUCTION Throughout my service learning experience, I quickly learned that “[both] home and school are the most important institutions which prepare children to become functional member of society”(Galej, 1982). I was given the ability to observe individuals journey through education. I had the pleasure of completing my service learning hours at Raising Expectations (RE). RE is located on the Westside of Atlanta. Right behind the Wal-Mart located on M.L.K. Jr. Dr. NW. RE is an after school program that provides youth development in communities that include: Decatur, East Lake, Pittsburgh, Vine City, English Avenue, Washington Park and the Westside of Atlanta. RE typically begins their relationship with their students as middle school …show more content…
“If students are to become proficient at using social skills, parents must be involved in teaching and reinforcing these skills at home” (Adams 2010). With that being said, parent involvement is highly effective to a child success through social skills, behavior, and overall academic achievement as well “especially when it includes a two-way exchange of information between home and school” (Adams 2010). Many children learn and practice their social skills within a natural setting which, would be the home of a child. “f children are to become proficient at using social skills, parents must be involved in teaching and reinforcing the skills at home and in the community” (Adams 2010). With that, children whom tend to speak to their parents about social situations tend to be more socially competent. Another benefit with having parents involved is that, “Parents also have access to many unstructured settings outside of school to increase the likelihood of generalizing the social skills” (Adams 2010). Within RE, many of the students were raised with either both of their parents or just one. Many children who only had one parent struggled with social competence (i.e. being angry, shy, or just disconnected). With that being said, their could possibly be no communication going on within the home due to the mom having to work all the time, make sure bills are paid, and having to do it all over again the …show more content…
However, temperament goes greatly with interpersonal skills. “Temperamental reactivity and self-regulation have both been studied in relation to academic achievement” ( Walker 2012). With that being said, if a child comes to school anger, shy, or even sad those feelings are highly associated with academic achievement. Studies indicate that “Shy children may perform similarly to peers on academic performance during early elementary school; however, they begin to lag behind peers in the school performance over time ” (Walker 2012). Within RE I noticed this greatly. A lot of kids within the program struggle with simple addition and subtraction. For example, Nyla is performing greatly with addition and subtraction problems. She completes all the worksheets because she believes it’s easy. However, Gabby, struggles with addition and subtraction and with that gabby she is a very shy individual who isn’t doesn’t like to ask for teacher guide in order to understand it effectively. With that being said, “Furthermore, shy children are less likely to speak upon arrival to school and during breaks, are less likely to volunteer answers in teacher-guided activities, and even speak less at home” (walker 2012). All in all, children’s temperament goes greatly with social and academic competence. For example, “Shyness might negatively impact academic performance because shy children experience heightened fear,