happy times

So I spend lots of time with staff at the hospital and hear about all that goes on and all the differences that are found between working here and working at home and different protocols, access to drugs, translating, and so much more. They often ask for a good/funny/cute/some story from school and I’ll have to admit that up until about this week I was at a loss for a good story…that sounds terrible but I just couldn’t see past the frustration and confusion I felt in teaching and not understanding and being understood.

Tuesday—we have gotten some new puzzles and they might be a little too hard for kindergarten. The kids don’t quite get the idea of matching the colors or straight edges to put the pieces together but they still want the picture to come out right. And the new puzzles are much better than the ones they’ve had and can do without thinking about. So we’re working on them and some of the kids are figuring it out faster than others. Patrick was working on one and just getting frustrated so I knelt next to him and gave him visual clues (basically pointing to the right spot) to put the pieces in. To see his face when he put that final piece in was to see the light come on and he was so happy. Big smile and a little dance led to a high-five and he was ready to do it again.

Today for story time I sat on the floor with the kids. They all crowded around and we read a book of nursery rhymes. They finished a few of the phrases and loved the lilting pattern of the lines. Then I let them go to get puzzles or books. Emmanuel, my child who understands some of what I say and sometimes just chooses not to sit or listen, went to get a book and then came back and sat next to me so we read it. He sits so passively and barely would answer my questions about the book. But when we finished the first he went to get another, came right back and sat down next to me, ready for the next story.