Homework

This is the story of how “Boots”, one of the girls in my house, and I did homework together. 

Most of the kids we have at Familia Feliz have a hard time learning. Whether it’s due to a learning disability, trauma, or the simple fact that no one has told them they are smarter and more capable than they believe. Last night we had trouble with one of our girls doing her homework, she simply refused to. We asked her why, and if she needed help we were there to help her. We tried to motivate her and push her by saying that she could participate in the activities we plan in the afternoons if she simply just did her homework. She sat out of all the house fun due to her stubbornness. When if finally got to dinner time, I took her outside away from all the girls and talked to her. I told her that she has three Teachers that love and care for her and want her to succeed, we don’t want her repeating the grade again, but we can’t help her if she’s not saying she needs help. It’s really hard for these kids to ask for help because no one has ever taught them how to. Or, sadly, they did once and it wasn’t given to them. Fat tears started rolling down her face as she looked at me and said “I don’t know how to write the sentences about the animals teacher!” Her homework had been to write a sentence that included an animal. I looked at her and said “It’s okay, I am here to help you” She threw herself on me crying and saying “Teacher you understand me! Thank you Teacher! I love you so much!” I sat her down at the table and we got going. I had her choose her animal and come up with her sentence, then I would help her put it together. I had a scratch sheet of paper to use so that way she could write the word and I could correct it before she wrote it on her paper. 

She didn’t finish all of her homework that night, and she still has a lot more to do if she wants to try and catch up. However, she is now able to see that help is there if she needs it, that she can ask and we will show up for her. I just had to get her going and she was on a roll coming up with the silly sentences like “The kangaroo woke my brothers up” “The chicken fought the other chicken.”  A teacher told me that kids with disabilities have to believe they can do it, and it has stuck with me this whole time. As a teacher, I have been trying to get these kids to believe that they can learn, that they are not dumb like people have told them. I get frustrated with them a lot because to me it makes sense, but I have not lived the life that they have, I have not experienced the trauma that they have. They can do it, they just need someone telling them and showing them they can. 

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 4, 2024 at 1:36 PM

    That is beautiful experience! God will continue to give you wisdom to help His children.

    ReplyDelete

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