My wife teaches kindergarten at a different school. At her open house, she had a parent express some concerns. Because the child was white in a predominantly black school, the mother was worried about whether he was making friends. My wife assured her that the boy was doing fine in class, and that he seemed to be a normal boy with a normal amount of friends. Then the mom mentioned a little girl that her son had mentioned from class. My wife explained that the boy and girl played together a lot on the playground, and although they didn't sit at the same table, she'd see them waving to each other across the room at times. The mom smiled at this and replied, "He said he's going to marry her one day." At this point, my wife started laughing hysterically. The mother, thinking that my wife only thought it was funny because of their age, then asked another question. "My son says that she's nice, but she talks funny. Why is that?" Through another fit of laughter, my wife replied "That's because she doesn't speak any English. She moved here from Mexico less than a year ago."
It's pretty amazing that two kids who can't even talk to each other can find a way to build a strong friendship. If two kids can get past a difference as difficult as the language barrier, you'd think adults could find ways to get along and respect each other's differences as well.
Keep up the good work. I just sat here and read your whole Blog. I too am a teacher of 3 and 4 year olds working for the Headstart program. I found myself chuckling through the whole thing.
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