A Helping Hand

I encountered a distraught child in an early morning kindergarten class about a month ago. She spoke absolutely no English and had just been enrolled at our school. Although her teacher sat beside her and did her best to comfort the weeping child, even going so far as to get help from another Korean-speaking child from a different classroom, the little girl was inconsolable for the half hour that I was there. Putting myself in her place, I could certainly understand how afraid and alone she must feel.

Fast forward to the same class this morning. The child is happy, attentive, cooperative, and well-loved by her classmates. 

Each week, the students take turns getting to hold puppets in guidance class while I read them a story. Today was the new girl's first turn, she wasn't sure of the procedure of coming up and choosing her puppet, and I didn't know how best to communicate this information to her. Seeing my uncertainty, a long-haired, petite little girl in her class asked if she could help, and I gratefully said yes.

Taking her hand, the helper led the Korean child up to the front of the room to help her select a puppet from about 10 different choices. One by one, the "assistant" held the puppets up for the new girl to see. Looking at the shark, the new girl shook her head, looking somber. She did the same with the leopard, tiger, buffalo, alligator, brown bear, and polar bear. Just as I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake by putting this little girl on the spot in front of all her peers, she saw the Care Cat puppet. With a big old grin, she grabbed the cat, squeezed him to her chest, and walked back to her spot on the carpet, smiling all the way.

                                      . 

I looked at the teacher, she looked at me, and we both had tears in our eyes. Kindergarten children almost always have the kindest little hearts and are pros at showing unconditional love, regardless of race, looks, ability level, wealth, or anything else! What important lessons they teach me on a daily basis, and I'm ever so grateful!