This is a re-post from my old blog.
Christia* is in grade 3.
She goes to a, somewhat, PRESTIGIOUS school
here in Manila. She is a typical 9 year-old girl, curious and playful. But
what's different about her is that... She doesn't know how to read.. YET.
As I understand it, her
mom is working abroad and she is left with her tita as her guardian. I do
believe that tita is doing what she thinks is best for Christia. She sends her
to a good school, and even hires an after-school tutor for her in case she has
difficulty in her subjects. The tutor happens to be her school adviser. That
Christia turns 9 and does not learn HOW TO READ, however, escapes me. What have gone wrong? Why is it
that nobody even noticed?
On her first day under
my tutelage, I found out what's wrong. Christia can't handle stress and
difficulties. When she can't remember a particular letter of the alphabet, she
makes a guess instead of thinking hard. But of course, I won't tolerate that.
So, she would give me THE FACE,
the most pitiful expression she could possibly give and when it doesn't work on
me, she would throw me HATEFUL
glances. But I'm used to that, I'm a teacher, some people love teachers,
some people hate them. Then, when she gets frustrated, she would CRY. So I give her time.. I leave her
be for 5 minutes or so, to give her time to compose herself. When I come back,
I will continue the lesson as if nothing happens..
She is, so far, the
greatest challenge in my career this year.. As of our last session she is
already reading sentences of words with short vowel sounds (bat, cat,
mat...)
Teaching, as I always say,
is not something to do simply to make a living, teaching is a special gift that
not everyone is blessed with... I'm
proud I'm a teacher.
*not real name
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