Dreaming

It's okay to dream big, right? Man, I dream about being able to teach some of these kids all day everyday...

My heart hurts when I think about academics here. We just got term 1 results back for a lot of our sponsored kids and man...most of them are struggling. The sad thing? It doesn't seem to affect teachers. In some ways I don't blame them because they don't know any other way...but when a kid gets 40% in a subject and the teacher writes that they're doing fairly well, my heart hurts.

Then I look in some of their notebooks to see the exams that they took and they're having to label parts of a computer or a beaker. Seriously? Some of these kids have probably never even seen a computer and they definitely don't use a beaker in science class, they just take notes and listen to the teacher talk.

I dream about what it would be like to pull them out of the local school and teach them everyday. I dream about what it would be like to get kindergarten and first grade curriculum and start with the basics. I dream about what it would be like to teach in English all day everyday and immerse these kids. I dream about what it would be like to give these kids a good education where they can do hands on things, learn in ways other than taking notes, and have fun doing it.

Pray with me about this. What do we do? How do we best support these kids academically? Our sponsored kids are required to come to tutoring every Saturday morning, but that's only 1 hour/week. Sometimes I wonder...how do we make a difference in 1 hour/week. Then I see it; a kid is starting to read, a kid who can solve a multiplication problem on their own, a kid who is now able to write a complete sentence. If only we could spend more time with these kids. If only, if only, if only....the thoughts go on and on.

Help us dream and brainstorm how we can do this better. Help us push and challenge our kids to grow academically every single day. Pray for these kids. Pray for these teachers.