One first graders

I was teaching a grade-one kid to do spelling practice. I wrote the words on the blackboard clearly by showing my class how to trace every letter on the red and blue writing lines which are always used for younger children to practice handwriting. Then, every kid in class was asked to copy them on his book. That kid, no matter how many times he tried, kept making mistakes. The words were either on the upper line, or under the lower line, just never between the two lines. I kept rubbing out his mistakes and I even wrote a sample one on the first line for him to follow. He tried but he couldn't do it even though it was so simple. 'Not like this. Please look carefully,' I rubbed out the mistakes again and maybe it's too frustrating for him. He cried and cried.

Even though after I told him it's okay, it's not a big deal and I know he is trying, he just kept crying. It broke my heart. Some kids are slow. Some kids are fast. Some are smart but some just need more time to learn. I know, one day, and some day, he will finally do it. Just take things easy. They are small. It's really not a big deal if he can't write nicely, now or even in the future. Actually I even believe that it's not a big deal at all even if you can't spell. Computers are gonna do all the work for us.

Now I keep reminding myself to be more, much more patient with the first graders. My goal is not to get the kids to learn, but to make them love to learn.