It was the third of six afterschool Monday’s with my Marvine gang on a gray day after a long weekend. I was a little unsure of where to go with this particular group of kids – one bright girl and three boys who are new to a school situation this year. It’s a real balancing act that greatly reduces my options. One boy is quite difficult to keep in focus, and he drags the other guys off into his space.

Today, we added two new kids, a boy and a girl, and that helped broaden the effort. I had to pay attention to them to get them up to speed with our group as well as find new territory for the others.

Today, I brought in my banjo (last week, the mandolin) and we did some exploring with it. Taniya made the connection with Kermit and his banjo – that was an indication that she’s got parents that are putting her in front of some intelligent media. We rolled through Rockin’ ABC’s, Bear Hunt, Old McDonald, the scarves, the puppets, the egg shakers and maracas, but really couldn’t get a firm grip on the group as a whole.

I’ve been asked to concentrate on “fun”, but it remains a big challenge with the diversity of social skills that this group has. Tough job.

My next Marvine Monday is December 3rd. Honest day’s work for me.