Reading with D

One of my favorite parts of the week is having 1-on-1 lessons with my 4th grade Hungarian student. This year is his first at ICSB (International Christian School of Budapest, Hungary) and he comes from a non-Christian family. Most Hungarians are nominally Catholic. The large majority, however, don't really practice. This year, D has been learning so much and has grown so rapidly! His buddy in class is a Ukrainian student, so they have to speak English to communicate. Their friendship has shown me the value of having a common, community language. 

D is a reading rockstar and his parents have been reading with him a lot at home in both English and Hungarian (one parent speaks English, the other doesn't really). They have been so impressed by his growth too! To challenge him a bit, I purchased a book about the true story of Easter, written in Hungarian, and had him translate it to me. The book tells about Jesus coming as a baby, growing up as a child, his work as a carpenter, and the beginning of his ministry. On the page that said Jesus liked to make things, D said, "I like this too!" I told him, "You and Jesus have the same hobby!" "Really?!"  he exclaimed and looked at me with such surprise.

The coolest part has been hearing D use his new vocabulary from his spelling tests (such as "dozen" or "treatment") in his translation to explain the pages to me. He was able to say, "Jesus had a dozen friends" and "He did like...a treatment," on the page that showed Jesus healing a sick man. 

D took his language proficiency test earlier this spring. He grew so much that when he saw the numbers on his tests, he pretended to faint! It's the most rewarding part of my job to be able to see such tangible growth and to hear from parents when I do. His parents wrote me and said:

"We appreciate all the goodness you've brought to D - the English lessons, the cheerfulness, the encouragement, the kindness, the laughter. D is eagerly awaiting every hour with you. He loves learning English with you and we're immensely grateful for that. We are very happy that D got accepted into school and that he is feeling well and doing great. We also feel the progress at home when we read to him, he understands more and more, or when his friend visits him and we hear them chatting. It's a great experience for us too. We're very glad that he could spend this important first year with you."

Pray for ICSB:

• strength and insight for teachers as they live out their commitment to the school's mission and vision
• continued ability to effectively and generously support those families that have joined the school community due to the war in Ukraine
• wisdom in navigating changes in the immigration and taxation laws
• wisdom for the Board of Trustees as they strive to govern the school faithfully
• insight for school leaders to steward resources wisely and plan strategically