MIRACLES

A favorite book that I read several years ago was called THE MIRACLES OF SANTA FICO.  It was the story of a beloved priest in a small village in Italy.  His dying wish was to witness a miracle, and so all the villagers faked a miracle by gluing leaves to a withered fig tree.  Of course, the priest wasn’t fooled, but his parting words really touched me…

         His life stretched out before him and for the first time he

         realized that it had all been a miracle –everything—

         every day—every accident—every coincidence—every

         disappointment—every joy—all of it…It was all a miracle.

As teachers and parents we witness miracles every day.  Children are born knowing nothing, and yet they miraculously learn to speak, walk, laugh, and sing.  They come to school knowing very little, and they learn to read, share, write, cooperate, play games, and love learning.

We experienced a miracle this week with our 20 month old granddaughter Kalina.  She has been immersed in language between her brother, poet mother, Bulgarian father, and Spanish speaking teachers.  However, her vocabulary has consisted primarily of “Dadee, Momee, No, Mo/more” and squeals and points.  But this week her vocabulary exploded!  She started saying EVERYTHING!  It was amazing!!! 

I remember my daughter commenting when K.J. finally started to write.  She said, “You know, children take it in, and take it in, and take it in…and then something comes out!”  The same thing happened with Kalina and her vocabulary.  I told my husband the miracle story and how Kalina and taken in all the words and sounds and finally something like a miracle happened and she put it altogether.  He said, “Jean, I’m not sure I’d call that a miracle.”  Well, I do!

And, you know what?  The same thing happens every year and every day in your classroom.  You’ve just got to keep your eyes open for all the little miracles this New Year!