Every Child Matters

Recently, I made a choice to tutor a group of special needs children in reading. When I came to this choice, a friend asked me, “Why are you going to do this?”

She asked a great question. I can also think of several reasons why not to do this. I mean, I have never taught beginner readers how to read, let alone special needs children. Even though I am a reading specialist, I am used to helping children that already have the basics down. It will take a lot of research and time working with younger children to find good resources. But, these kids are worth it, and I believe I can make a difference. Even if it is only three kids, I will do it one child at a time because everyone of them matters. I plan to just meet them where they are, and send them soaring as far as they can go.

The only way I can truly describe my decision is found in the story of the starfish:

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. 

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching.  As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea.  The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)