My New Love

Early in January I was asked if I would be interested in giving English lessons to one of my colleague's friend's four year old daughter, Zosia. Given that I have had no teaching experience of any kind before this year, especially with such a young child, I responded that I would have to think about it. And after giving it some consideration, I decided, why not! I love little kids and figuring this out would be a fun challenge and a new way to connect with the people around me.

At the beginning of winter break I met with Zosia's mother and we talked about how I would teach Zosia. The idea of the lessons is to expose her to a native accent and to help her be able to differentiate between English and Polish. She already attends an English kindergarten, so she has some words. I am to sing and to play with her, teaching her the words needed as we interact. Zosia has blonde hair, blue eyes, and a devilishly sweet smile. Needless to say, I was instantaneously in love.

So far I have had two lessons with Zosia and both have been so much fun! It's really chaotic, and I know that she does not understand everything that I say, but she is a little sponge! We sing, we play with blocks, she asks me to read her Polish books and I tell her "Nie mam po polsko," which is my broken version of i don't have it in Polish. Working with her is great because it is so different from what I do every day at school and is just silly. I also am really enjoying getting to know her mother. I am so thankful that this opportunity has presented itself and am really thinking this is going make my life a lot more joyful.

Peace,
Colleen