Sucessful Learning Experience

As a Kindergarden teacher for the past 9 years, I have truly learned a lot....most importantly patience. I remember one particular example where a little girl in my class was struggling in all areas academically. She was very well behaved, but just lacked the discipline to follow through with studying at home and turning in her homework. I decided to speak to her mother and try to understand her family life a little more...so that perhaps I could find a way to help her. When I spoke to her mother, I realized that the root of the problem was at home...Her mother did not attend school after the 3rd grade, and did not see why it was so important for her daughter to continue much longer either. According to her, it was a "waste of time and energy"...and the homework would certainly take" too much time away from other fun stuff" her daughter could being enjoying like going to the park. " She needs to enjoy being a child" she told me, and "not have so much other stuff to worry about...like HW."
After meeting the mother, I realized that my student, Stephanie, needed help. Even though her mother didnt approve of Stephanie's desire to learn to read and write, she allowed her to come to school so that she had time to go to work. School had become a free babysitting service in her eyes, not useful for anything else. Stephanie, on the other hand, had a passion to learn and a sparkle in her eye every time she knew it was story time. As the months passed, Stephanie grew more confident in herself as an intelligent girl, and often asked to stay with me during recess and lunch so that I could give her some extra time to practice her reading and writing. Stephanie only blossomed and soon become the only 5 year old student in my class reading on a first grade level!At home though, Stephanie would not tell her mom that she could read and write since she knew her mother did not approve of "wasting" too much time on this. In reality, the more I came to know Stephanie's mother, the more I realized that she had a very strong resentment and anger inside of her for the fact that she could hardly read or write.
One day, I noticed Stephanie was absent. This was strange to me because since the beginning of the school year 6 months earlier, Stephanie had never been absent. I went to school the next day expecting to see Stephanie in class...but again she was not there..so I decided to call home. When I called home, an elderly lady answered the phone in Spanish. Being bilingual, I inquired about Stepanie and that I was her teacher. She explained that Stephanie and her mother were in a terrible accident and her mother was in a coma. Stephanie, she said had a broken leg but was in stable condition. The amazing thing, though, was that she said that Stephanie saved her mother. When the accident happened, Stephanie acted quickly and reached into her mother's purse to get her cell phone. She called 911 and explained to them the situation and read off the names of the street where she was located. She was even able to spell her name to them and give them her family's telephone number so that they could be contacted! I was amazed! A little 5 year old girl who just went through a terrible accident, suffered a broken leg and had a mother who was not responding to her actually had the strength and intelligence to do this! I was so touched and proud of her. I immediately hung up the phone and quickly drove to the hospital. When I got there, I saw Stephanie who smiled so big when I walked in and hugged me tight. She told me what happened and I told her how proud I was of her. Fortunately, her mother had recovered from the coma and could speak. I went to see her, and to my surprise, she started to cry. She began to apologize for being so negative about Stephanie and her studies. SHe told me how proud she felt of her and that if it wasnt for her, she would not have been alive. Stepnie's quick thinking to call for help right away saved her mother's life. And most importantly, if Stephanie did not know how to read, she would not have been able to be of much help to her mother when she needed it most. She was extremely thankful to me for educating Stephanie, having patience and not giving up. From that day on, Stephanie's mother is a new person...going back to school and values education, life and her dear loved ones much more than ever before.
It was truly an AMAZING learning experience for us all!