Helping children to learn made education complete

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I should have attended kindergarten 63 years ago, but I couldn’t. My family only had one car, and my father needed it for work. The school was too far away for me to walk, so I didn’t go.

In the fall of 2005, one of my grandsons started all-day kindergarten. When his school asked for volunteers, I quickly answered the call.

There were only 13 students in his class. His teacher had been teaching for more than 30 years, and she had even taught the parents of some of her students.

I told her right from the start that I couldn’t commit to a specific schedule, and she told me to come whenever I was able. I tried to go every two weeks, usually in the afternoon so I could go to class after having lunch with my grandson. The children started calling me Grandma right away.

The teacher sometimes had specific tasks she wanted me to do, but most of the time I could do whatever I wanted with the children.

Several stations were set up as areas for learning. One station could be for building blocks, another for learning to rhyme words.

Snack time was always popular with the children. Every time I went to help, I took doughnut holes.

I love children, and I’m happiest when I’m around them. I always looked forward to being with the kindergartners, and I felt happy and energized afterward. They gave me a lot of smiles and hugs, and when I heard them laugh, I laughed. They thought I was there to help them, but they taught me so much.

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