Read–With-Me At HGS

Location: House Of The Good Shepherd

Date: Tuesday, June 03, 2014; 6:30-7:45 pm

I signed up to read with the older kids this evening, having had my fill of the screaming younger kids when I was here last.  I arrived at HGS to see that both of the volunteers groups were assembled in the lobby.  Soon our Volunteer leader Diane led us downstairs to the reading room and we were removing the crates of books from the closet when the kids burst in.  They were full of energy and the little boy with whom I had worked in the past immediately ran up to me.  In this project it’s the kids who select the adults that they want to read with and more often than not I had found myself being the odd person left out…but not this evening.  Take that other volunteers!

Yep, we read this one

We picked some books - all at random – and proceeded towards the seating area.  However, instead of sitting on a couch, he decided to lie down on his back on the rug and read the books as one would at leisure.  I decided to join him and so while the other volunteers were still pairing up, me and my kid were already underway…and relaxed as well!  Well, when I say that we were underway, it meant that he was not really reading, but pointing at the pages and I was trying to keep him interested.  The first book was on alphabets and objects associated with them and while he was repeating the alphabets, he wasn’t paying attention to anything else.  Next, we moved to a book which was about some animals going to a science fair and someone who looked like a Bear, getting carried away by a hot air balloon.  The rest of the animals chase him in a boat and recover the balloon in time for the science fair, with the balloon ending up as the winner…a typical Hollywood ending!  Once again, my kid was kind of interested, but wasn’t paying attention.

My kid was now interested in another kids book and I told him that he could have it once they were finished.  Once the other kid did, they offered it to us and I asked my kid to say “Thank you”.  The book was called “Disney’s From Whales To Snails” and he was intrigued and reading it by himself.  I asked what I should do and he gave me the alphabet book from earlier.  I said that I had read it and he said “Read it again!”  This continued till I had read it 4 times and he could have quizzed me on every page. Some of the volunteers had no kids to work with and were just hanging around, including Wilson, who had just arrived. I invited one such volunteer to join us and my kid was paying more attention to her as she read.  Well, I couldn't blame him for that!  A little girl came over to sit with us and she was reading a book called ‘What Dinosaurs Eat’.  There was a cat in there – hopefully not as a food source for the said Dinosaur – and she said that she likes cats and proceeded to name this one “Daisy”.  Man, I love kids with imagination. 

Now those are some cool glasses!

Our reading time was up and we next moved to the ‘Arts & Crafts’ portion of the evening.  There were multicolored pipe cleaners and we were to use them to make various designs.  I picked up a few and twisted them together till it resembled a psychedelic rainbow tied in knots.  My kid took it and put it around his wrist.  Another kid nearby was looking at this and I told him to make a similar bracelet for the volunteer who was working with him, and then give it to her as “Thank you”.  He did that and then proceeded to make many such bracelets for all the females there – volunteers as well as other girls.  Well, seems like someone's getting an early start!  I looked around and saw another kid who was wearing multi-colored pipe cleaner glasses that would have made Elton John proud!  Now all of  the kids wanted them and for the rest of the evening that’s what we did.  It was soon time to leave and I walked out thinking that every time I come here, I leave in great spirits.  Tonight was no exception.