Amachi Central KY

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not."  

~Dr. Seuss

As a child, Dr. Seuss books seemed silly, fun and entertaining.  Green Eggs and Ham?  Sort of ridiculous?  Maybe, but did you know that Dr. Seuss purposefully created the story using just 50 words?  49 of them are monosyllabic.  He wrote it with the beginning reader in mind.  

The Cat in the Hat?  Yes, a little odd.  But did you know Dr. Seuss was challenged to write a book limited to 225 words, utilizing a list of 348 words every 6 year old at the time should know?  The story consists of 1629 words in length and uses a vocabulary of only 236 distinct words, of which 54 occur once and 33 twice.   Just one word – another – has three syllables, while 14 have two and the remaining 221 are monosyllabic. The longest words are something and playthings.  

You might be thinking:  {Interesting, but so what?}  Let me get to my point, which is this:  Sometimes all of our hard work and effort might seem mundane.  It might seem like a cutesy rhyme made up for a 6 year old.  We plan, we try, we try harder, hoping that we make a difference.  We make an organized effort.  But is it making any difference?  

Take a look at the quote at the top of this blog entry.  Nothing is going to get better unless someone like YOU cares a lot! Dr. Seuss's last book was Oh, the Places You'll Go.  It includes this line:
   "Will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed. (98 3/4% guaranteed.)"  

 That's what we want for the kids we're helping, isn't it?  We want them to succeed.  Right now, that might mean learning to read through Green Eggs and Ham.  Or learning to deal with a difficult classmate.  Or helping them cope with living in a broken family situation.   It takes some planning, putting together a process, and hoping we eventually see some results.  And in the meantime, trying to make it a bit fun and somewhat silly.