Redwood Day Spotlight: Amelia Zaldivar

I sat down with Amelia Zaldivar who leads the Kindergarten X-Care program so that I could learn more about her and what her 20+ kindergarten children are doing with her, Linda Otoya, and Rebekah Novak from 3-6 p.m. each day.

 

Katrina: What led you to Redwood Day?
Amelia: I’ve always worked in schools, love working with children, and know I want to be a teacher. I found Redwood Day 3 years ago and, even though I had lots of job offers, I loved the community at Redwood Day. I read up on it and knew it was one of the best schools in the East Bay. I had to be here.

 

I’m a student in my last year at Cal in media studies and education. I’m in the middle of education grad school applications right now and I’m hoping to go to St. Mary’s or USF.

 

Katrina: What drew you to working with kindergartners?
Amelia: I really enjoyed the small group aspect and the structure of it. I liked that the children know what will happen during their afternoon and that the kindergartners were tight with their after school community. There’s a little cocoon aspect of the kindergarten X-Care program.

 

Kindergarten through 2nd grade is where I see myself working in the future. They’re so curious at this age and I’m a curious and excited person so it’s really fun for me to see that energy in them too. It’s so fun to watch kindergartners develop. Kindergartners at the beginning of the year are not kindergartners at the end of the year. It’s really cool to see and to be a part of that development.

 

Katrina: What are some of the ways you’ve grown the kindergarten program?
Amelia: My first year, I watched and learned. Last year I was starting to incorporate new ideas. We brought guest speakers in, added theme weeks, and planned mini-lessons.

This year, we have a set schedule each day that we can show to the children so that they know what’s going to happen that day. After the first few weeks of the year, we’ll start having theme weeks where art projects are connected with the games and stories, and everything is connected to one theme. Even the X-Care room is decorated to match the theme. The themes are connected to what they’re learning in the core classroom.

 

Katrina: How do you know what is happening in the core classrooms so that you can connect to them?
Amelia: We meet with the core kindergarten teachers every two weeks and they also share the scope for the year so I have a general idea of what’s going to be happening and I can plan. We want a nice fluidity between the core classroom and after care. We’re careful to use a lot of the same language and organizational strategies as their core teachers.

 

Katrina: How are the first few weeks of the school year different for kindergarten than the rest of the year?
Amelia: For the first couple weeks of kindergarten, it’s challenging because the children don’t really know anything about X-Care. They’re learning everything new. We make sure to set aside time for an opening meeting so we can get student input on the activity, then we do the activity, and end with a closing meeting to reflect on the activity. The 3 parts of this are important and we’re very intentional to do them all. It’s always really cool to see them begin to just get it around routines and activities. It’s really fun seeing friendships develop. At Redwood Day, students meet each other before school starts, but it’s really fun once they’re here to see them growing socially.

 

Katrina: What are some special highlights for the children?
Amelia: Mittie’s art projects are always a highlight. Students go home with amazing things and just love it! And they get excited about learning games. Different games just click with specific groups. Last year, Sharks and Minnows was popular and the 1st graders now come and tell me how much they still love it. In X-Care we can play games that require a little more adult participation than students enjoy during the school day.

 

Katrina: Tell me about snacks!
Amelia: We try to have a diverse snack for all of X-Care—we want to make a space for children to try new foods and expand their palate. Every day has a fruit choice, grain choice, and “main course.” The most popular snack might be pizza bagels. They are the thing to have. And Veronica makes AMAZING blueberry muffins. The children devour them. We try to only have one sweet snack like muffins each week. Other favorites are grilled cheese and baked potatoes.

 

Katrina: What else do you want us to know about X-Care?
Amelia: X-Care can look chaotic at certain times of the afternoon. But it really is thought out, organized chaos because we want to give children structure and also give them the freedom to explore and socialize to unwind from the day so that each child gets what they need.

This year, all X-Care staff will be trained in Positive Discipline so that we can continue to use the same language and approach with students.

 

Katrina: What have been some impactful moments for you in your role?
Amelia: I’ve developed relationships with children where they come back to me long after kindergarten. Having students come back to see me and look to me as a trusted adult when they need someone to talk with is really great.
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From my office, I get to overhear the negotiations of children wishing they could stay longer in X-Care. Please join me in appreciating the work of Amelia and the entire X-Care team in creating a fun, safe, and engaging space for children after school.