Getting to know children is like unwrapping presents – Shaw Local

Wow, summer is in full swing and a new school year is just around the corner.

Every year, as I volunteer with a new class of students (I only have three or four at a time – I’m in total awe of teachers who can handle a whole class of students!), learning their names, skills and attitudes, and trying to build a relationship with each one, even though they may all see me as a stranger at first, I feel like I’m opening presents. Truly amazing, mysterious, living presents.

Every child is a treasure. Every relationship we can build is a treasure.

In each session we read a simple book together. The books come in a set so that each of us holds a copy and takes turns reading paragraph by paragraph. I am a firm believer in the value of reading aloud, even though it can be hard, and it works best in a small group like this.

The first book we read together is usually The ABC Volunteer, a sweet story that still often brings me to tears. It’s about a fourth-grader who volunteers to teach an old Mexican man to read. When he tells her about how he had to work on the farm when he was her age instead of going to school, her eyes are opened to the fact that going to school is not just a chore. He shows confidence in her ability to help him, even though she is young, because she can already read.

At the end, he invites her to a celebration at his family’s house, with wonderful Mexican food and music. Then he gives her a note he wrote. That’s when we realize that she taught him to write too. In his note, he thanks her for helping an old man instead of just playing with her friends, and she begins to realize what he gave her too. That’s where my voice often breaks when it’s my turn to read.

The kids and I talk about things. They tell me about a time they helped someone learn something, or about their own grandparents, some of whom live in Mexico. We talk about how nervous the girl was to try something new, and how hard it is for old people to learn new things. We notice that the girl and her mom bring flowers when they come to the party, and I point out that it’s nice to bring something when someone invites you.

Then I tell them that I am a volunteer and that I come to the school because I like reading and meeting children, not because it is my job. I think this surprises them a little and gets their attention. I also let them have a little fun by sliding their books across the table (carefully, please) when we are finished, and we find that the convex side of the small paperback slides better than the concave one.

I love my young friends. And just like the girl in the book, I know that they are as much use to me as I am to them.

Winifred Hoffman, of Earlville is a farmer, dual-purpose cattle breeder and student of life. You can reach her at [email protected].