A favorite bookthat I read several years ago was called THE MIRACLES OF SANTA FICO. It was the story of a beloved priest in asmall village in Italy. His dyingwish was to witness a miracle, and so all the villagers faked a miracle bygluing leaves to a withered fig tree. Of course, the priest wasn’t fooled, but his parting words reallytouched me…
Hislife stretched out before him and for the first time he
realizedthat it had all been a miracle –everything—
everyday—every accident—every coincidence—every
disappointment—everyjoy—all of it…It was all a miracle.
As teachers andparents we witness miracles every day. Children are born knowing nothing, and yet they miraculously learn tospeak, walk, laugh, and sing. Theycome to school knowing very little, and they learn to read, share, write,cooperate, play games, and love learning.
We experienced amiracle this week with our 20 month old granddaughter Kalina. She has been immersed in languagebetween her brother, poet mother, Bulgarian father, and Spanish speakingteachers. However, her vocabulary hasconsisted primarily of “Dadee, Momee, No, Mo/more” and squeals and points. But this week her vocabularyexploded! She started sayingEVERYTHING! It was amazing!!!
I remember my daughtercommenting 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 andhow Kalina and taken in all the words and sounds and finally something like amiracle happened and she put it altogether. He said, “Jean, I’m not sure I’d call that a miracle.” Well, I do!
And, you knowwhat? The same thing happens everyyear and every day in your classroom. You’ve just got to keep your eyes open for all the little miracles thisNew Year!
