This month, I teach kindergarten.
I teach lots of little children that Aa is for apple and we spell 1 o-n-e.
I teach these kids about the parts of the body and the weather and opposites.
I teach them about the days of the week and the colors of the rainbow.
I teach kids to write their letters and do their own work.
And I teach kids lots of silly songs too.
Some people think teaching kindergarten is easy.
Let me just remind you, respect your child’s kindergarten teacher.
They are so so much more than a babysitter for your child.
They work harder than you may understand, just so your kids can learn that a triangle has 3 sides.
But I’ve also learned a lot from these kids.
You see, I teach them English.
They learn how to pronounce their words from me.
They repeat after me over and over and over again.
But beyond just repeating my words, they repeat my actions, my tone of voice, my attitude.
I am working to teach these kids so much more than just English.
I’m teaching them how to love others with their words, how to sing with all their hearts, how to be joyful.
I am teaching these kids how to be someone that others can look up to.
Sure, I am far from perfect.
Kids can be crazy and sometimes I’m frustrated or worn out or just plain hot and sweaty and apathetic (can you say, holy humidity! This country is H-O-T!).
But it’s those moments that we take a deep breath and remember that if I walk away from here and these kids are still no better at English than they were when we arrived, but they know more about true love, then we are doing okay!
