I co-teach a neighborhood preschool twice a week on rotating months. It's a small fun group of kids. I have noticed some pretty major improvements in several of the kids already. Not only are the kids learning their alphabets (reading and writing) but they are learning quite a bit about being social. Taking turns and realizing that the world simply does NOT revolve around them are some of the biggest things I've noticed they need to learn and have improved the most on. It's so much fun to see them succeed.
At the same time... they can also be the most frustrating. They each have their whiny days. Days they just don't want to follow the rules anymore. Today was my daughter's turn to hang on to my leg and be very independent from what everyone else is doing.
My teaching partner (Lori) mentioned how she doesn't know how regular school teachers "do it". Half the kids followed the directions and are done and ready to move on to the next thing while the rest of the class is either just slower than the rest or didn't hear the instructions and need some extra help. This makes our co-teaching situation really nice. She takes on the kids who are ready to move on and I stay behind and help the stragglers. Everyone gets what they need and the day moves quite smoothly.
Today we also noticed something interesting. Something that made my heart both happy and ache at the same time. One of the little girls in the group has a father who is in the military. He's gone a LOT for extended periods of time. Normally she is very quiet. Doesn't talk up very often. She tends to just simply move with the flow of children without standing out at all. I thought some of her shyness was due to a language barrier. Her family speaks another language at home most of the time. She frequently misses class time because she just didn't want to go that day. Her daddy was able to come home this week. She has become a TOTALLY different little girl. She is happy, singing, talking, interacting with everyone. She looked so bubbly and involved with life. Not shy at all. Her daddy brought her to school this morning and she was BEAMING. On a few occasions today I was a bit annoyed with how loud the group had become and I looked up to see who was the loudest to try to get some control on the volume.... I was surprised to find it was this little girl's singing that was the center of the voices.
I've always known that families of military people suffered from the extended periods of separation. I have never seen such a young child up close who is having to cope with life without a parent. I've known a lot of people who grew up with a military parent. They were all teenagers or older before I met them. My dad was in the military but he was stationed at the local AFB. He lived at home and drove to work. He was never stationed elsewhere.
I wish there was something I could do to help her be this same bubbly and happy little girl when her daddy is away. I know she feels more safe and complete when their family is whole. My heart aches for these little children who have to grow up in an imperfect world. I can now better understand the sacrifice that the military men and women make when they offer their lives in service for their country. Thank You to those serving as well as to their spouses and children. What an incredibly HUGE sacrifice you ALL make.
