The Morgan Munchkins program, led by family and consumer sciences teacher Sue Murphy, is an upcoming program that will integrate a group of preschoolers into a Morgan classroom. Ms. Murphy’s Early Childhood Education class is the second half of an Early Childhood Education program. Taking the second semester allows students to earn a credit from Middlesex Community College. It involves the students acting as teachers and learning about childhood development.

A large part of the course is the students taking the class learning how to lesson plan and teach. During her interview, Ms. Murphy emphasized the fact that the teens will be doing all the lesson planning and preparation with as minimal support from her and other Morgan staff members as possible.

Ms. Murphy has taught this class for several years, even through the pandemic. This year, she is most excited for the teens and preschoolers to learn from each other. Her excitement showed as she mentioned how the preschoolers become especially excited to work with the teens. “Watching the teenagers put together really great ideas and get excited to work with the three and four-year-olds and just how much they love working with the teenagers,” was the first thing she said when asked what she was specifically excited about regarding the program.

As a teacher, Ms. Murphy also thoroughly enjoys getting to see the teens come up with lesson plans and execute them successfully. This results not only in them being proud of themselves but her being proud of them. It creates a community of students and children who are excited and ready to learn.

Students in the class also have strong feelings about it. When asked what she was most excited about, junior Isabella Johnson said, “Working with kids. I’ve always loved to work with kids.” In anticipation for the first few sessions, she mentioned that she expects some natural “road bumps,” but isn’t too worried about the group’s ability to work through challenges. She even mentioned that this class interested her because she wants to become either a special education teacher or a math teacher and feels as though this class would give her some hands-on experience.

Ms. Murphy has similar hopes for the program regarding what the students can take out of it. She thought it would be beneficial to note that the class is helpful for students going into healthcare, social work, or teaching careers in order to gain a better understanding of the fact that “childhood development is a real area of study.”

As for the hopes for the preschoolers, Ms. Murphy finds that often their parents have similar hopes to her. They want their children to practice vocab and speaking to people who aren’t members of their family. Many of the children entering this program will be encountering their first preschool experience, meaning they aren’t accustomed to interacting with other people, especially in such a setting. Along with communication, one of Ms. Murphy’s largest goals is for the children to feel understood.

There are other goals for the students to focus on, such as applying their skills. Throughout the class, students have learned about different observation skills and how to use them in the classroom setting. On top of this, actually getting the ‘munchkins’ to learn and practice their skills is something to work towards.

The class is still looking for toilet-trained three to four-year-olds to join the program. It will be taking place one to three times a week from 12:30 to 2:00. The classroom is newly built with an outdoor playscape, specifically for this class. It is equipped with Its own bathroom as well as a variety of toys, books, and other activities. Email [email protected] for more information!