Reading classes

When we moved to Huejotzingo almost a year ago, Abraham and I put up notices advertising that we would teach classes in our home.  We offered English, drawing, and general tutoring.  Six and Ken contributed with classes in sewing, guitar, and piano.  At first, several people came for English classes.  They came for about a month, and then they disappeared.  Now I only have one student for English class, and she doesn't come very regularly.  I help her with her English homework.

Ken has two piano students, and Six has one sewing student.  The piano and sewing students are in the same family, and their son comes for drawing class with me.

Within the last three weeks, a new set of students began to come to our home.

A large family lives on the corner of our street, and the girls come regularly to the Sunday afternoon kids' club, often bringing one or two of their toddler nieces and nephews.  None of the kids in that family attend school, although some of them used to.  One of the girls knows how to read very well, but her next younger and next older sister do not know how to.

Practicing writing

We offered to teach them to read, and that Tuesday morning, they came.  Using a curriculum called Mas Luz, I began teaching them simple syllables, sending home note cards with the same syllables so that the girls can keep reviewing.  While I work with each girl individually, the other one practices writing.  Their sister who knows how to read uses our desktop computer to learn typing.  She also works math problems with Abraham.

Reviewing syllables

The girls come three mornings a week, often with a niece or nephew (or two) in tow.  They work on their lessons, and then they stay to play and talk until we send them back home.

Last weekend, a lady knocked at our door, asking about reading lessons for her 6-year-old daughter.  The girl attends school and her mother works on reading at home too, but still the girl doesn't now how to read.  She started class with me on Tuesday afternoon.  Her second class will be Saturday morning, and we will probably add another class on Wednesdays.

Two other students have had a couple of reading lessons with me, but they haven't yet had more.  Abraham and I visit their house every Friday afternoon, and while Abraham does a Bible study with two of the adults, I had reading class with a third adult and her daughter.  The girl has never attended school, and she is completely unaccustomed to sitting down to do any sort of studying, so working with her is very challenging.  Next time we go, I will start out by reading a story and try to help her see the connection between being able to read the story and the lessons.

Abraham and I visit another family every Friday night.  None of their children attend school, although some of them did for awhile, but not long enough to be proficient readers.  I take a different picture book with me every time we go, and 6-year-old Lupe's first question is always, "Where is the book?"  I read aloud to her, and her younger nephew and brother always crowd close, wanting to hear too.  After reading to Lupe, I pass the book to her next older brother, and then usually her oldest sister also wants to read it, too.  Lupe also wants to be read to on Sunday afternoons, and soon I plan to start teaching her sound-symbol relationships so that she will be able to read to herself some day.

Please pray that these classes will continue.  They are a way for us to reach out to people in our neighborhood and offer them a skill that will be useful throughout their lives.  Pray also that these classes will be more than just academic help - that they would be a way for us to be Jesus' hands and feet.