Â鶹ӰԺ

3rd Place Winner

Post 1:

In the weeks leading up to my first "Reading Buddies" session at Â鶹ӰԺ Public Library, I tried to prepare myself for any kind of buddy. I thought of ways to engage a shy child. I planned out ways to burn energy with a rambunctious child. None of this prepared me for Grace!Ìý

Grace didn't hesitate to reveal her charming and mature personality from the moment we were introduced. We laughed at the silliness of the word "goldendoodle," solemnly agreed that having a younger sister is fun until you fight (because there's no one else to play with), and problem-solved when we discovered we had ink all over our fingers because our pen had broken! Ìý

I was very interested to learn that Grace and her sister Jooeun (who is also a little buddy in the program) are from Korea, and moved to the United States within the past few years. When I asked Grace what is different between Korea and America, she told me that in Korea she is 10 and in fourth grade, but here, she is 9 and in third grade. She explained that this is because in Korea, your first birthday is about three months after you are born (one year from conception), whereas here, it's one year after you are born. I had never learned this before! Ìý

Grace is incredibly bright and motivated, and was more interested in reading, asking questions, and playing Monopoly than completing the scavenger hunt, which worked out just fine! We haven't yet discussed our book, but I have no doubt that Grace will come up with some exciting and creative ideas. We are already planning on learning how to make bracelets too! Needless to say, I am beyond excited to spend more time at the library with Grace.Ìý

Post 2:

I had the privilege of participating in BPL's Reading Buddies program with my little buddy, Grace. My experiences in the program were so valuable, and from day one, Grace impressed me so much with her independence and motivation. Grace was a master of focus, and had no trouble narrowing her story ideas down to a cohesive plot (not to mention inventing some adorable original characters named after candies). Her drive became very evident during our last session, when she decided that we were going to finish our entire book, Candies at Night, that day- meaning we wrote and illustrated five pages in a little over an hour!Ìý

While I was continually impressed by Grace’s dedication and self-motivation, there are a few goals I had identified for Grace that I wish we would’ve had time to develop. She is proficient at reading books with high vocabulary levels, but her pacing can be very staccato and she sometimes forgets to breathe, causing her to sharply inhale between words. Sometimes she also infers the rest of a sentence after she’s starting it, which can cause her to skip words or say them in a different order. I would have liked to experiment with different ways to slow her down, like blocking everything except for the sentence she’s on, and intentionally pausing to take deep breaths.Ìý

One other skill I would’ve liked to help Grace develop is making sure she comprehends what she is reading. As a fellow oldest child, I suspect that she would purposefully pick advanced books to prove how capable she was, but she seemed like she wasn’t quite understanding the story. With a few more weeks, I would have tried to coax her into reading some lower level books to get more practice on the foundational skills. I have no doubts that she could tackle some of the big books she picked out, but I hope she can first become more comfortable with asking questions about what she doesn't understand, and with seeing the big picture of a story.Ìý

I am so proud of all that Grace has accomplished this year, and of course, I'm so sad that I won't be able to continue reading with her this semester, but she taught me so much and we both thoroughly enjoyed our time together!Ìý

Blog 3:

In my first blog post about my experience meeting my little buddy, Grace, through the BPL Reading Buddies program, I noted that no mental preparation on my part could've prepared me for meeting such an inquisitive and mature little buddy. As I reflect on my experiences in the program, I realize that nothing could have prepared me for such a swift ending to our relationship either; never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined we would spend our last hour and a half together talking through our feelings about a pandemic. Our time together was characterized by the unexpected, and while I wish Grace and I could've finished out the last few weeks as buddies, I think this element of unexpectedness actually helped us grow.Ìý

Because I'd like to end with the positives, I'll first remember some of the challenges and concerns Grace and I faced. If I had to pick one that I noticed the most, it would be finding the balance between structure and freedom. For me, that looked like knowing when to guide and correct Grace in various situations, like when we were choosing how to spend our time or writing our book together. I had to learn that there are many times when it is better to step back and be ok with some spontaneity, and maybe even a mistake or two. For Grace, it looked like knowing when to trust that my help would truly be helpful, and that sometimes I had to override some decisions. After a few weeks, we struck a really good balance that gave her room to grow, and structure in which to do that.Ìý

Don't be mistaken: Grace was not a challenging buddy to have. I am very fortunate to have had several weeks to get to know her passionate, silly, driven, and curious self. She consistently kept an eye out for her younger sister, was willing to try new activities, respected me, the other buddies, and the BPL space, and did an amazing job with our book. When we learned that we only had one session left, Grace knocked out seven pages of complex story writing and illustration- all I did was help her when she got stuck and color her amazing drawings. Her focus and determination knocked my socks off!Ìý

As I've expressed before, I wasn't prepared for such a wonderful little buddy, and I wasn't prepared to say goodbye to her so soon, but my experience with Reading Buddies renewed my passion for community service and desire to model what it means to be a good buddy. Grace was a joy, and I will surely be returning to the Reading Buddies program.

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