I volunteered to be a Reading Buddy for a kid in Nick's school again. I wasn't going to volunteer this year, but I couldn't help myself. I like this program, which is run by a woman who has preschool children. At every meeting of the volunteers, she reads a sweet book to us, her voice taking on a different tone than when she's talking about funding.
On Wednesday, we had a meeting in which we sat in small groups and talked about why we liked being a Reading Buddy. One person must have rehearsed it in her head before saying it. She liked "having even a small part in igniting the passion of a child toward becoming a lifelong reader." That is so perfect, so quotable! Another woman, a former teacher, said she likes seeing the incremental changes. Hell, I can never see the incremental changes.
But at the end of last year, my Reading Buddy jumped up on a stage that had been stored in the room and began to read, one arm reaching out, the other holding his book. He hammed it up even more when I put my iPhone on the video setting. Did I ever tell you that I love my iPhone? Well, I don't have the right to take a video of this boy, but he loved it and I haven't posted it on uTube or anything. All of a sudden, he was an orator, Martin Luther King Jr. with his 'I Have a Dream' speech. Or maybe he was JFK saying "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." What a transformation from that clock-watcher I had sat with all year.
I have selfish reasons that I sign up every year to be a Reading Buddy. I like when someone reads to me. It always makes me think of Mrs. Winkler, my fourth grade teacher and the only person I remember who ever read to me as a child. Oh, she read to the whole class, but I just knew that she loved me. She read 'The Wind in the Willows,' a book I hated. She also read 'A Wrinkle in Time,' 'Charlotte's Web,' and a handful of other wonderful classics. I remember doing math and social studies in her classroom, but she took the time to read a chapter to us every day. Getting comfortable in my seat in the back of the room and listening to her resonant voice was my favorite part of the day.
At first, I was amazed that Mrs. Winkler would read to us at all, that anyone would willingly read to a child. My experience was listening to my older sister refusing to read 'Go, Dog, Go!' aloud because she said she hated that book. I had grown up thinking that extended to reading any book out loud. I loved when Mrs. Winkler settled in to read and, amazingly, it looked like it made her happy too. At the end of the school year, Mrs. Winkler gave every one of us a book of our own. I chose one about Ben Franklin and I still have it on my bookshelf.
Sometimes, I stand outside Nick's door for a moment to hear Mike's voice as he reads when it's his night to take Nick into bed. Oh, how I wish I was the one snuggled down under the covers, to close my eyes and listen to that story. By the door, I can't quite hear the words, but Mike's voice is deep and soothing. It's the same reason I finally got through 'The Iliad' and 'The Oddessy.' I had gotten an audiobook from the library with Ian McKellan reading. Oh, I loved the repetition of the words "the wine red sea" when they were read by Ian McKellan. I totally recommend it as a method to work your way through the classics.
And yes, I am even comforted when I am read to by a child who struggles with a word here and there. Sometimes as we sit next to each other in that little room, I close my eyes and I am once again sitting in the back row of my fourth grade class, listening to my teacher read, just for me.
Thank you for listening, jb
On Wednesday, we had a meeting in which we sat in small groups and talked about why we liked being a Reading Buddy. One person must have rehearsed it in her head before saying it. She liked "having even a small part in igniting the passion of a child toward becoming a lifelong reader." That is so perfect, so quotable! Another woman, a former teacher, said she likes seeing the incremental changes. Hell, I can never see the incremental changes.
But at the end of last year, my Reading Buddy jumped up on a stage that had been stored in the room and began to read, one arm reaching out, the other holding his book. He hammed it up even more when I put my iPhone on the video setting. Did I ever tell you that I love my iPhone? Well, I don't have the right to take a video of this boy, but he loved it and I haven't posted it on uTube or anything. All of a sudden, he was an orator, Martin Luther King Jr. with his 'I Have a Dream' speech. Or maybe he was JFK saying "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." What a transformation from that clock-watcher I had sat with all year.
I have selfish reasons that I sign up every year to be a Reading Buddy. I like when someone reads to me. It always makes me think of Mrs. Winkler, my fourth grade teacher and the only person I remember who ever read to me as a child. Oh, she read to the whole class, but I just knew that she loved me. She read 'The Wind in the Willows,' a book I hated. She also read 'A Wrinkle in Time,' 'Charlotte's Web,' and a handful of other wonderful classics. I remember doing math and social studies in her classroom, but she took the time to read a chapter to us every day. Getting comfortable in my seat in the back of the room and listening to her resonant voice was my favorite part of the day.
At first, I was amazed that Mrs. Winkler would read to us at all, that anyone would willingly read to a child. My experience was listening to my older sister refusing to read 'Go, Dog, Go!' aloud because she said she hated that book. I had grown up thinking that extended to reading any book out loud. I loved when Mrs. Winkler settled in to read and, amazingly, it looked like it made her happy too. At the end of the school year, Mrs. Winkler gave every one of us a book of our own. I chose one about Ben Franklin and I still have it on my bookshelf.
Sometimes, I stand outside Nick's door for a moment to hear Mike's voice as he reads when it's his night to take Nick into bed. Oh, how I wish I was the one snuggled down under the covers, to close my eyes and listen to that story. By the door, I can't quite hear the words, but Mike's voice is deep and soothing. It's the same reason I finally got through 'The Iliad' and 'The Oddessy.' I had gotten an audiobook from the library with Ian McKellan reading. Oh, I loved the repetition of the words "the wine red sea" when they were read by Ian McKellan. I totally recommend it as a method to work your way through the classics.
And yes, I am even comforted when I am read to by a child who struggles with a word here and there. Sometimes as we sit next to each other in that little room, I close my eyes and I am once again sitting in the back row of my fourth grade class, listening to my teacher read, just for me.
Thank you for listening, jb
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