Teacher Talea

I walked into our apartment, dropped my bag, and flopped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. What on earth am I going to do?   Having never gone to kindergarten as a child, and literally not remembering what it was like to not know anything at all academically, I have no clue what to do with these kindergartners. The one who speaks a little bit of English can hardly say her ABC’s, even with the song, much less recognize them. And the little local boy who doesn’t speak any English can hardly do any of it (but man, can he smile - so cute!!). The curriculum we were given for these two students is way beyond them, starting out with phonics, which of course requires the ability to both recognize and be able to sound out the letters plus different combinations of letters, which, we all know can have many different sounds in the English language (thank you, complicated languages). Goodness gracious. Do children in the states do phonics and assignments in kindergarten? I always got the impression that kindergarten was more of an enriched play time, where they had educational games - they played and learned at the same time! Genius, whoever came up with that wonderful idea. Seriously. I love you (even though I happily kindergartened at home with my sister and our beanie babies).

But over here in Malawi, playing all day doesn’t necessarily work. One: The two little kids are in the same room as the big kids, which won’t be changing and doesn’t leave a lot of room to set up stations or anything for different activities or “subjects.” Two: SUPPLIES. I keep reminding myself that this is a third world country, and no Talea, you can’t have everything and anything you think you need for the classroom, no matter how nice or helpful it would be. (Actually, we have a lot of good supplies and resources - not a lot aimed for kindergarten though.)  So, we are starting at square one, and I do not recognize it at all. I remember having trouble with the word “something” when I was in first grade, but that’s it. Well, I remember missing a word on my spelling test and not getting a gold star on it like I usually did - heart wrenching. If I remember correctly, I almost started crying. My 1st and 2nd grade teacher was and is a saint, and a wonderful model of patience and loving-kindness that I wish I could emulate.  I tried showing them letters, saying them, having them repeat them, and having them write them down. I had Laurel try something when I couldn’t think of anything else to try. Nothing really seemed to stick. Will this really work? Are they going to learn ANYTHING from me this year?

... That’s probably a little extreme. And I know I’m an overachiever (you should have seen some of my lesson plans!!! I fixed those…), and seriously Talea, that was only day one. DAY ONE. Stop freaking out, calm down and relax. You have 9 more months - they’ll learn SOMETHING at least.

I have as much of a learning curve as these two kids, but I guess that’s okay. A wise friend told me that the day you stop learning and growing you die. And besides, isn’t that part of why I’m here - to learn and grow? And to help other people? It all fits. This unexpected challenge must be part of God’s grand plans for me this year. Please keep us in your prayers as we tackle this challenge and slowly discover what will and won’t work. And God-willing, these two kids will be able to recite and recognize the alphabet and many numbers and do much more by the end of the year!!