Twice each week, I work for one of the full time caregivers at Casa Hogar Douglas so that they can have a day of rest. The workers leave and I'm in charge. Thus, I am in charge of our daily schedule, chores, procedures, activities - more or less.
The boys hated homework time. Many could hardly read at all which only made homework more painful because their assignments were often above their skill level. They often wouldn't complete all of their homework and almost always skipped the assignment to "read for 15 minutes daily" and then get a signature. We as the ministry of Back2Back hope and dream that each of these children would one day be able to go to high school or college. Seeing day after day how far behind they were in school only made me nervous for their academic futures.
It was about one year ago when I decided to try to force my "big boys" (the dorm of boys ages 9 to 11) to read extra in addition to their homework. They needed it so badly. I am in charge of them for an entire day. If they aren't reading, it's 1/7th my fault. I was scared of their reaction so I twisted their arms by allowing them to play with my N64 after they took turns reading books for me. At first, they whined and complained. They'd read because they wanted to play video games.
As the months went by, the boys completely expected this as part of our daily routine. The concept of "read to play" became engrained in their minds. It got easier to get them to read for me. Some read so poorly that they could hardly finish reading one page of a story in 15 minutes but their confidence levels improved.
I was in charge of this dorm this past Friday and decided to test out how well they'd respect my books if I left a few with them to use for the reading part of their homework later in the next week. When I returned on Monday to take care of them again for the whole day so their caregivers could rest, I was absolutely shocked to find every single book still in the dorm and in good condition.
But then one of the 10 year olds told me something that honestly almost made me cry. He said he finished Diary of a Wimpy Kid over the weekend on his own. Friday night, I had a hard time putting him to bed because he wanted to sit in the bathroom where the light was still on so he could keep reading even though the entire dorm was in bed.
THE WHOLE BOOK. He read the ENTIRE book!!!!! His first ever big boy chapter book!
He loved it. He thought it was hilarious.
When I told him that a donor had just given me the books for the entire series literally that same day he smiled ear to ear and asked if I'd bring him the next book so he could start reading it that same day.
Unless you've struggled and battled to get your own child to read (which my mother did with me my entire childhood) you might not be able to comprehend how huge this is. But to see it in an orphanage dorm with a child who I can guarantee never had a book read to him as a little boy growing up is insane to me.
One year later, one of the 10 boys in that dorm likes to read for fun.
I've decided that if he reads all 5 books in the series that I'm going to give his entire dorm a pizza party one weekend. Miguel has already told me many times that he hopes and dreams to study and go to high school and college someday. He's said that he wants to be a psychologist to help people with their problems. As much as I like to think that I believe in him and that I'm his biggest fan - I don't even come close to loving him like God does. God is this little boy's biggest fan and I can imagine God just cheering Miguel on as he reads. Thank you God that one of these boys likes to read. Thank you Jesus for video games and the pull it has on little boys. Thank you God that this is working even if it's just one boy.
Miguel, buddy, I believe in you and in your dreams. I can't wait to see the man you'll become years from now. I am so unbelievably proud of you.
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