by Jacqueline Jules
I have a Master’s Degree in Library
Science. For twenty years I worked as a librarian/teacher in a variety of
settings, both public and private. I also served as a synagogue librarian and
led preschool story times. During those years, I had the great privilege of
watching children learn, and shared their excitement over newfound abilities.
To read, the mind must make
meaning from symbols. The letter “A” represents a particular sound. That sound
combines with other sounds to become a word. The process is not easy, and for
many children, reading must be broken down into discrete parts before it can be
mastered.
When my students were having
difficulty, I would sometimes tell them to do what they could and skip what
they couldn’t. In other words, deal with challenges later. This is particularly
useful in test taking. If you answer what you know first, you build confidence.
Questions that take a little more thought can be revisited at the end. The same
goes for reading. If you know most of the words, read them. A single unknown
word may be understood within the context of the sentence.
Sometimes children and even
adults become paralyzed by what they don’t know. An unfamiliar word or concept
can be like a stop light, holding them in place. Stories of how others overcame
self-doubt can be motivating.
My background in education
and working with children drew me to the story of Rabbi Akiva, the Talmudic sage
who learned to read at age 40. An illiterate shepherd, Akiva was encouraged by
his wife, Rachel, who firmly believed he could become a respected scholar.
“Nothing is beyond you,”
Rachel tells her husband.
Akiva still questions. “What
if I can’t learn? What if my brain is hard like a stone and can’t absorb new
ideas?”As a teacher, I encountered many boys and girls who doubted themselves. It is easy to become discouraged, to believe that a task is too big for your abilities. In Drop by Drop: A Story of Rabbi Akiva, Akiva observes a phenomenon in nature. He sees how water slowly erodes stone. It brings him to an exciting conclusion. “My mind is not harder than a rock! I can learn—just like water cuts through stone—a little bit each day.”
And so Akiva begins to study. First he memorizes the sound and shape of each letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Then he puts the letters together to form words. Every day, he masters a new word until he can read and write whole sentences.
Later, when Akiva goes to the
yeshiva, he studies Torah in the same way, learning one law at a time, breaking
the dense and difficult text into individual pieces. In the end, a man who
could not read or write becomes a wise rabbi followed by thousands of students.
I hope that after reading Drop by Drop: A Story of Rabbi Akiva,
children will draw parallels with their own struggles to learn. The acquisition
of new skills requires persistence. Complicated subjects should be tackled in
small pieces over time. Little by little, like water carves through stone, we
can achieve any goal.
Jacqueline Jules is the award-winning author of 40
books for young readers including three Sydney Taylor Honor Award winners, Sarah Laughs, Benjamin and the Silver Goblet, and Never Say a Mean Word Again. Ten of her picture books have been
featured as PJ Library selections. Visit www.jacquelinejules.com
