Simon

"No one has fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true educator should be to unlock the treasure."

- Emma Golman

When Tavish's class was created in October, there was another transition for Tavish and his young classmates to make. One boy, Simon, stood out. He is 3, doesn't speak much English, doesn't have any siblings, has never been away from his Mom, and was now in a class with different kids, a different teacher, and no Education Assistant. It was a lot for him. There were tears, shortened days, and his Mom having to stay with him when he was there. Tavish's teacher took this situation to be an opportunity to work on 'empathy' among Simon's classmates. It worked. It worked very, very well ...

"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of
empathy, we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other."
- Meryl Streep

MOMENT: Kindness

Ms. T sent Tavish home with a sticker on his shirt that read "I was a caring friend today" on his second of third day in the new classroom. When I asked Tavish who he helped at school, the conversation went like this:

Mommy: Who was the friend you helped today?
Tavish: Simon. He's like a baby, but he's not a baby. He cries a lot.
Mommy: How did you help him?
Tavish: I did what I did for Keva. I say "shhh", I put my arm around him and I bring him toys
Mommy: Does Simon like that?
Tavish: Yes, it helps him to not cry and feel better

Day after day, stickers and positive comments from Ms. T have come home. "I helped to tidy up today". "I was kind to a friend today." "I was very helpful today." One day, she explained that she was going to run out of stickers and that she's never seen anything quite like this before with how helpful Tavish is with Simon.

I saw this play out myself when Keva and I showed up to the school for the Halloween parade. Tavish was in line with his classmates, holding Simon's hand. I thought he'd rush over to be with his 'digger', but I could tell he felt confident that he was where he needed to be. There was no letting go of Simon's hand either, I could tell that too. When I smiled in acknowledgement to Ms. T, she was quick to note that she didn't ask for this, but that Tavish just seems to know what Simon needs. Aw.

On more than one occasion, we've seen Simon with his Mom and when we say hello to them, she's quick to say (in broken English) "your son, it's your son, he so good! thank you! thank you for him!" or "Simon okay now. It's your boy. Thank you!" I'm pleased to report that Simon is now attending full days most of the time and, according to Tavish, doesn't cry anymore and his Mommy no longer has to stay with him.

Tavish and Simon waiting for the parade to start

Parading along hand in hand

"It's not so much the journey that's important; as is the way that we treat those
we encounter and those around us, along the way."

- Jeremy Aldana