Jo Kean, Primary Teacher
If you come to my classroom most days, you will catch us doing something that I love to do. Reading! In my life and in my classroom, reading is important. In the early years of school, reading is what children learn to do. In my classroom, we are helping to develop foundations for future learning. Reading is one of them.
You may not know this about me… I love books! I am the type of person who walks around the house reading whilst doing other things. I even bring books to the dinner table. A great day at the shops for me would involve a good coffee and a book shop. Yes, I am hopeless. I go to bed each night and read. I relax by reading in a sheltered spot in my garden. In the holidays, I love to read so much that a whole day can go by, and I have done little else. I do get into trouble from my husband when I get engrossed in a book, as he says, and pay little attention to him.
This week I was shocked to discover that some children in my class do not know who Winnie the Pooh is. I wondered how this could be. How could children in the 21st century not know about a bear of very little brain who I adore! My new mission is to introduce Winnie the Pooh and his friends to this group of students to help them see how friends care about each other, even when they are sad and grumpy, like poor Eeyore. They need to know that friends are there for each other; they support each other and they encourage each other to be more like Jesus.
We are learning to WHOK in K/1; to be wise, happy, obedient and kind in the way that we treat each other every day as we work and play together. We were discussing this recently, and one student pointed out that we don’t need rules stuck up on our walls, because if we are WHOKing we know the rules already! What a powerful insight.
I have a question though, why do I get so involved with a story that I want to keep reading to see what happens, and yet hesitate to get into God’s Word, the Bible? Do I carry the Bible with me and long to see what His plan for me today is? I am guilty as charged. What a different person I would be if my first passion was the Lord, and spending time in fellowship with Him. I recently read a devotion based on Matthew 6:20-23. It was about storing up treasures in heaven. What a challenge. If Jesus is my treasure, and the purpose of my life is to glorify Him, I am blessed if I live with my heart, mind, soul, and strength focused on Him and His plans for me. Therefore, the problem with my reading is my heart. Putting Christ first is essential to Christian living.
Please read and read with your children! Please read lots of different and varied books, especially Winnie the Pooh. But read the Bible with them too and pray with them. Let them see your relationship with the Lord in action and they will imitate you.
Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Matthew 6:20-21