Friday, January 25, 2013

The Reading

Noah has a thirst for learning. He has always been curious. He has known his letters and sounds for a while now and every so often we would sound out a word here and there. His preschool teacher this year is amazing and he is just soaking everything up like a sponge  I recently started getting I Can Read Books from the library  And together we sound things out. He gets so excited and I try super hard not to push it. I am a teacher  and I find it so hard to hold back :) He is standing at the edge of a whole new world. His curiosity can be satisfied by simply picking up a book and reading about the things that he wants to know about. Tonight we were working through a Biscuit book. He was sounding out words left and right. He looked over at me with a giant grin and cool as a cucumber said "I'm reading a book!" What a victorious moment for my sweet boy. 
And then, because I have been praying this week that my compassion for my students return with a vengeance to my tired worn out teacher heart, I pictured my students. And I hurt for so many of them who didn't have those kind of moments in their homes. This afternoon I was leaving school a little before five. It was a ghost town. At the front was one of my former students still waiting for a ride. After a brief chat I learned his mom was on her way. He was supposed to go home with his dad but he had forgotten to come get him. And that just plain stinks. I wanted to put him in my car and go get him ice cream. But I'm not sure if ice cream cones still heal hurts for eighteen year old boys the way it does for five year olds. So instead I wished him a good weekend and prayed over him in my head. I know that God can bring comfort and healing to this boy and others who crave love. It isn't that my students parents don;t love them. They do. But life is hard and providing security is stressful. I hope that I can give my students little victory moments like Noah's and a little bit of love.

3 comments:

Sandra White said...

This is such a touching post that paints a picture of way too many children today. How blessed your students are to have you as a teacher who comes the extra mile! You are truly a gem!
My grandson(5 five years old) read Biscuit stories several nights a week.

Sandra White said...

Should be "goes the extra mile" and my grandson and I.
Very poor grammer @ the end of a very long day!

Anonymous said...

What a precious moment in time! I love those moments with my first graders when they begin to read. I can tell you the research theories about how they think this happens for children. I do know this will happen when someone gives time to read to a child and listen to them read. Noah is a blessed child. Love, MIL