Behold the Sun

My daughter standing in the sun...

We took our daughter to a specialist to find out why she struggles in reading. In truth, we felt some pressure from the school to show learning gains in our daughter, as if the human mind were measurable quantifiable with numbers. Thankfully, the specialist confirmed what we knew already in our hearts, there is nothing wrong with our child. "Reading is wired into the brain," she said, "And some people simply don't connect until much later in life."

The doctor ordered all the proper psychological testing to satisfy the school, but her true diagnosis will require us to identify our daughter's strength in other areas, perhaps in music or dance. Her natural talents will eventually lead her to excel in all the other academic subjects.

Years ago, our Native ancestors never used to pressure their children to conform to some arbitrary standard of performance. If a child failed to show proficiency in certain areas, the tribal elders would set forth a series of choices. As the child naturally gravitated toward one talent or another, the elders would simply observe. In this way, education became a process of discovery for the teachers, allowing them to provide proper mentorship and guidance for the children.

As we left the office, our daughter found a glowing sun in the hall and insisted on having her picture taken. I look back at this photograph, and I see all the beauty and grace of the ancestors living in her present form. Her own unique spirit shines forth like the sun, waiting for her mentors, parents, and teachers to discover who she really IS on the deepest level. In the end, she will lead US.