Reading in Fernie

3 Fernie : Freshies
Originally uploaded by webgoddesscathy.

I was thinking about the concept of reading tonight because it was my first night as a literacy tutor.

My learner is a pretty smart guy. Has a job at Canadian Tire. He finished high school. He wasn't sure if it's supposed to be "Dear Mary" or "Daer Mary". He reads by context -- if there's a difficult word, he looks at the words around it to take a guess at what the long word beginning with "a" might be.

He would probably never spend an afternoon in Fernie, BC, with his familiy, reading in a coffee shop.

They warn us tutors not to get all romantic about what we're doing. We're teaching students fundamentals. Many are learning to read so that they can read to learn. Many students want to go on to a college program or to just pass their driver's test.

I take reading and writing for granted.

Tonight, I felt bad when I realized that I just expect that people would know how to structure a business letter.

My student is probably never going to have a passion for reading or writing like I do. But he may be able to read a damn good story to his child someday. And he may get into the college program of his choice in a couple of years.

And maybe I will have helped one life become better. Maybe I'll even have an impact on his life.