the value of order

I am not an orderly person. I mean I like to run across the grass. I love things when they are loud and messy and fun. But I also love organization. I am obsessive about things having a place they belong...and with putting them there. I want the shoes in the bin and the lunch boxes in the pantry.

So this week my love for organization morphed over my love for tutoring. After working for about an hour with the kids, I began to sort/research AR books from the class library. The kids were tired of the few AR books they could choose between. And I felt certain that some of the other books in the classroom library were probably on the AR list.

I worked until lunch but I wasn't through...so I kept working. I left at the end of the day with 6 big stacks of AR books. But I still wasn't finished. Here is where the obsessive Ginny takes over. So I went back today to finish the project. And I did.

When I arrived this morning I felt very obsessive about order. I mean, wouldn't it be better to spend my time one-on-one with the kids? Does organizing books really make a difference? Well, the answer is YES! As I gathered the books, something began to happen. The kids began to take notice. "We can take tests on ALL these books?" Yes! They could hardly wait to look through them and begin reading and testing. And I can't wait to help them with their tests next week.

the gift of time

I am a woman of many gifts. I am smart, creative and have disposable income. I like using all of these for the Kingdom of God. But with my sweet little kindergartners (I volunteer in a low income school on the north side of the county), I have come to realize these gifts are secondary. Even though I want to use these gifts to love on these kids, the best gift I have to offer them is simply my time.

I have come to realize it is the gift I want to most give them as well. Over Christmas when I was away from them for several weeks that drifted into January....I began to think that tutoring was not so important a kingdom thing. It didn't really change things...or help them and maybe I should reconsider how I use my time. But then I went back...

Time is not only what the kids desire the most but it is truly the most helpful thing as well. So since the snow day Monday cleared things off my calendar this week, I gave them more time. This week with each kid... I reviewed 25 sight words (simple, common words that kids are taught to recognize by memory) and helped them read 1 book to me.

This is what I saw: a handful of kids who after a half a year in school still can't recognize more than five words (two of which are "a" and "I"), some who still don't know their letters or the sounds that go with them, some that didn't remember in which direction to read the letters ( so than "on" is read "no"), and a handful of kids that probably need a referral to the speech therapist. A few of them are already starting to give up on themselves and believe they can't do it. It can leave you wondering if your time makes any difference at all.

But the majority of these kids were really, really trying...they have a great desire to learn to read... and are proud of their improvement. Their faces light up when they achieve something new. ALL OF THEM love to read books one on one. They love being read to...such a simple thing. I wish I could show you a picture of the face of child who realizes for the first time that he can read...he is smart enough to do this.

What they need most...benefit from the most is my time.