I volunteer at one of the schools as a reading tutor. With a program called ‘Reading Partners’ . This is an interesting experience. The kids I works with are First and Second graders. When I started doing it this year, one of the two kids, a First grader, was not too receptive. My efforts to connect with him were largely met with either sullen responses or no reaction. At one point he even told me he didn’t want to be in this class. At which time I responded that I didn’t want to be there either and would much rather be home watching Netflix.
But we kept going, and things are starting to turn around. I even see the beginnings of a smile when he comes to class (ok, maybe not a real smile, but the corners of his mouth turn up a little). This perseverance is paying off. It is a great experience.