Stories of Service

Learning Your ABC's

Sharon Roland

Foster Grandparents - Kent County

First, Sharon walks from one end of the building to another to reach the craft room on a regular basis.  All the students want to work with Grandma, and say,” Pick me, pick me.” It makes Grandma Sharon so happy to see their faces daily.

One student, Aneah (not real name) struggled daily. When Grandma Sharon began working with her, Aneah did not know the alphabet, sounds or vowels…she was struggling. At first when Aneah did something correctly, she would say, “Are you proud of me, Granny?”, as she was sweet and eager to learn. Grandma Sharon told her that she was very proud of her.  Aneah continued to struggle as Grandma Sharon tirelessly worked with her on the alphabet, vowels and sounds.  Aneah kept asking Grandma if she was proud of her, and Grandma Sharon would say yes, because Aneah was slowly improving every day that Grandma worked with her. Aneah was going to tell her teacher that Grandma was proud of her, as it made her feel so good about what she had accomplished.  Grandma Sharon always gave Aneah lots of praise and encouragement.

At the end of the 2 months Grandma worked with Aneah, she was able to Identify sounds and knew her ABC’s. including same vowel sounds. Aneah was so happy that she was able to learn all this from Grandma and was much happier and confident at the end of school. Grandma Sharon was excited that Aneah had progressed so much by the end of the school year.