Hello all, I just wanted to share about a fun time Tutoring yesterday!

On Wednesdays I help in a local library, free help for anyone who walks in and wants help… most people assume it is only for young students. But it is not age specific, a few years ago I helped a students mom fill out a job application. Now, two years later she works in a real estate office.   🙂
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But today was different, I got there early for a change and met with an unusual challenge… A small family, Mom, Dad & Daughter. came in and asked for help… problem is that they barely speak any English. They use Mandarin Chinese at home… I know the local teen librarian coordinator so I asked Rachel to come out to see if she could help….
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We both know that there is online tutoring via zoom that can pair students with tutors with specific languages. Problem was that it does not start until 4:00. This was around 3:15 so it would be a bit of a wait… But we got out the laptop set aside for the tutoring program, got her connected and found a tutor to work with her.
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In the meantime two of my “regular” students and their mom came in, Jay who is six and his younger sister Druthi who is four. Instead of trying to sit at a big adult table, in the “teen” area ( where the tutoring is expected to take place) I just sat down on the floor with them. They were immediately more comfortable than at the table we had used for the previous weeks.
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As usual, we spent our time reading picture books. We picked out a bunch of books from the kids area. I learned last week that if I hold my hand out to Druthi she will grab on to one of my fingers and walk with me. This tends to make other library patrons smile as we walk by, I am smiling too.
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The kids area is on the other side of the library. Jay walks all over the place, Druthi stays with me. Once we are back sitting in a circle I opened all of the books, so they could see the pictures and I could see how big the words are (fewer and smaller is better). I asked them to pick out a few. Druthi picked one about a “worm guy” and Jay picked out one about elephants and another about dogs on a farm.
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As usual, they cannot sit still for long, but this is okay, I have lots of patience! I read the words, and asked them to tell me what they see in the pictures. We follow the dogs in one book, Sandy & Pilot and the humans, Tom the boy and his uncle Phil.  From the beginning of the story all the way until the end.
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The library staff kept walking by us sitting there, smiling and going about their usual tasks. I was doing my best to read upside down, the book in front of me so Jay and Druthi could see the words.
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We read for most of the two hours! Which is pretty impressive for kids their age, while Peong Yang worked with a tutor via the laptop.
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As I was cleaning up afterwards I mentioned to the other volunteer tutor, Seneca, who is a senior in high school (she worked on her own homework for most of the two hours) that I have experience working with students ranging in age from preschool all the way up to seniors in high school. One of the librarians overheard us talking, looked up at me and asked “Really?” I smiled and just said, “Yes!”
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Jay and Druthi’s mom keeps on bringing me food to take home… so now there are two moms who routinely make food for me. I keep reminding them that this is not expected or necessary, they keep doing it anyways.   🙂
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The library staff kept walking by us sitting there, smiling and going about their usual tasks. I was doing my best to read upside down, the book in front of me so Jay and Druthi could see the words.
~♥~
I hope you enjoyed hearing about a fun afternoon of me tutoring, sending hugs and a peck – Iris