SOARING

Teaching kids brings me joy, especially because of the misnomer. Teaching is not about what I can hand over as a neat package to the next generation. It’s not about instructing, and it’s not about correcting. Sure, that’s all part of it, but teaching is about presence, about sharing, growing, and learning…together. As an adult, I hold many treasures to be discovered by children, but they hold the secrets that I have forgotten. Children live in the now – in happiness, frustration, forgiveness, and wonder. They are explorers and artists, scientists, and mathematicians; they are learners without borders. Because they just are.

Their tiny feet are on the ground, but their imaginations soar high. Learning happens on its own, in its own time, and sparks within anyone who is present. I can provide and I can support, but sometimes the lessons given are not the lessons learned. As we move along, that spark lights up wherever it will. Beyond the lesson plans, beyond intention and script, there is learning on the fly.