As I wrote previously, I have started going to a home for at risk children three times a week to teach English and eat lunch with them. It has been difficult teaching them as I know less of their language than some of them know of English! They are teaching me so much; they love being my Khmer teacher as much as I love being their English teacher! Some of them are just now starting to warm up to me—it is easier now that we both speak a little more of each other’s language!
Allow me to share one of my favorite things about going to school each day:
After the opening prayer, we always sing a song or two. The first song I taught them was a song I sang every morning while student teaching in a kindergarten class this past semester. It goes like this…
“Hello everybody, so glad to see you; hello everybody, so glad to see you.
Hello to the girls, so glad to see you; hello to the girls, so glad to see you.
Hello to the boys, so glad to see you; hello to the boys, so glad to see you.
Hello to the teacher, so glad to see you; hello to the teacher, so glad to see you.”
It is a kind of cheesy song, so I worried about how 15 year old boys would feel about singing it every morning with me, but they seem to actually enjoy singing it. It warms my heart to look around the room at all their smiling faces that are happy to be with me and eager to learn.
I bask in these moments everyday as I take time to just look around the room into each of their eyes, smile at them, and pray the Lord’s blessings and love over them that day.
