Who is the teacher here?
At times, children can seem so fragile......and yet are some of the most resilient people I have ever known! Deuntiis is in my kindergarten class this year. He came from another school that held him and his first grade brother back because of excessive absences. He is a quite bright young man - VERY verbal and I mean VERBAL! Deuntiis is one of those kids that you immediately fall in love with and yet he drives you crazy! I am sure he will be the cause of numerous new gray hairs this year. He is one of those kids you tells you WAY more than you care to know.
Out of the first 17 days of school, Deuntiis' mother has been late picking him and his brother up on at least 14 of those days. Tuesday when I was leaving at 5:00 they were still waiting in the office. I got on the phone, trying to call their mom at work - the home phone is out of order. After several times of it being busy, I got in the car and drove over to Allen Parkway Village, the nearby neighborhood the little family lives in. When no one answered at the door, I got back in the car and tried the work number again. There was an answer, FINALLY. By now, I am feeling very frustrated with this mom who has continued to seem quite neglectful to me! My assistant principal is about ready to call CPS on her!
The manager of the hair styling shop answers the phone. When I inquire about the whereabouts of the late mom, she very apologically tells me that she (the manager) was in a wreck trying to get back to relieve the mom for her to come pick up the boys. As the mom rushed out, it is reported that she was quite upset and frantic about the tardiness of the manager causing her to be late getting to the school. I expressed sufficient concern and immediately hung up so I could call the waiting assistant principal to relay the story that will be given by the tardy mom. All get home safely.
The next day, Deuntiis comes in all excited - his dad is coming home tonight - from jail! All of a sudden I start putting one and one together.....and my heart goes out to this mom who is trying her hardest to keep life together for her family while dad is away....for how long, I don't know, but it is about to over for this time......and I begin to wonder is this really a good thing or a bad thing that dad is back.....
Today Deuntiis can hardly wait to tell me that his dad DID come home and he has lots of hair - on his head, on his face, his chin, and between his mouth and nose. Apparently, this is quite different from the last time he saw Dad. Excitedly, he tells me that his dad will be picking him up.....but once again, I take the two boys to wait in the office when no one has come by 4:00.
Children so easily have high hopes and great expectations...they dream and long for the best, and yet when they get so much less, they go right on with life...still hoping and wishing and dreaming and getting as much out of life as they can!
My experience has been that children often teach me so much more than I will ever be able to teach them. Oh, sure I teach them to read and write and spell color words, but they teach me about life...how to love unconditionally even when those you love and trust the most let you down. They teach me to dream and reach out for my goals even when they seem too far to reach. They teach me to get up every time I get knocked down.
Had you asked me 30 years ago when I was preparing to be a teacher of young children if I thought I would learn more than I would teach, I would have laughed - "I "know"so much more than little ones I would have told you..... but these little 4th Ward warriors have taught me so much more than I would have ever expected. It doesn't take these kids long to figure out how to add sugar to make that lemonade out of the lemons they are given.....the sad thing though is that they are not all like Deuntiis - some of them tire of finding their own "sugar" end up adding more and more lemons and use less and less sugar to those lemons.
God, help me to be one who adds sugar and not more lemons to the lives of the little ones you have put in my care for the next 9 months. Help me to find opportunities to be a "sugar-sprinkler" in the the lives of all I encounter.
Out of the first 17 days of school, Deuntiis' mother has been late picking him and his brother up on at least 14 of those days. Tuesday when I was leaving at 5:00 they were still waiting in the office. I got on the phone, trying to call their mom at work - the home phone is out of order. After several times of it being busy, I got in the car and drove over to Allen Parkway Village, the nearby neighborhood the little family lives in. When no one answered at the door, I got back in the car and tried the work number again. There was an answer, FINALLY. By now, I am feeling very frustrated with this mom who has continued to seem quite neglectful to me! My assistant principal is about ready to call CPS on her!
The manager of the hair styling shop answers the phone. When I inquire about the whereabouts of the late mom, she very apologically tells me that she (the manager) was in a wreck trying to get back to relieve the mom for her to come pick up the boys. As the mom rushed out, it is reported that she was quite upset and frantic about the tardiness of the manager causing her to be late getting to the school. I expressed sufficient concern and immediately hung up so I could call the waiting assistant principal to relay the story that will be given by the tardy mom. All get home safely.
The next day, Deuntiis comes in all excited - his dad is coming home tonight - from jail! All of a sudden I start putting one and one together.....and my heart goes out to this mom who is trying her hardest to keep life together for her family while dad is away....for how long, I don't know, but it is about to over for this time......and I begin to wonder is this really a good thing or a bad thing that dad is back.....
Today Deuntiis can hardly wait to tell me that his dad DID come home and he has lots of hair - on his head, on his face, his chin, and between his mouth and nose. Apparently, this is quite different from the last time he saw Dad. Excitedly, he tells me that his dad will be picking him up.....but once again, I take the two boys to wait in the office when no one has come by 4:00.
Children so easily have high hopes and great expectations...they dream and long for the best, and yet when they get so much less, they go right on with life...still hoping and wishing and dreaming and getting as much out of life as they can!
My experience has been that children often teach me so much more than I will ever be able to teach them. Oh, sure I teach them to read and write and spell color words, but they teach me about life...how to love unconditionally even when those you love and trust the most let you down. They teach me to dream and reach out for my goals even when they seem too far to reach. They teach me to get up every time I get knocked down.
Had you asked me 30 years ago when I was preparing to be a teacher of young children if I thought I would learn more than I would teach, I would have laughed - "I "know"so much more than little ones I would have told you..... but these little 4th Ward warriors have taught me so much more than I would have ever expected. It doesn't take these kids long to figure out how to add sugar to make that lemonade out of the lemons they are given.....the sad thing though is that they are not all like Deuntiis - some of them tire of finding their own "sugar" end up adding more and more lemons and use less and less sugar to those lemons.
God, help me to be one who adds sugar and not more lemons to the lives of the little ones you have put in my care for the next 9 months. Help me to find opportunities to be a "sugar-sprinkler" in the the lives of all I encounter.
posted by Betty @ 10:41 PM
2 Comments:
At 7:24 AM,
mrjoshua said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 6:26 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Betty, I was wondering if you wanted to give me some general tips on working with/teaching kindergartners...we usually have like 21 at a time at the daycare that I work at, I feel so out of control and like it is hopeless for me, I came in at the end of the school year but I still want to do the best I can until the year is up. HELP! emilymaillet@yahoo.com
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