grateful for learning

i've recently begun volunteering at an elementary school.  the best thing about this is that i only stay for an hour at a time and i work with kids in small groups - or just one on one.  i'm not their main teacher and i don't make the assignments, nor do i have to grade them, i just have to sit with them and help them get it done.  so far i've worked with a girl from tanzania and a boy from cuba and a boy from some other african country, but i'm not sure which.  all speak english as a second language.  i'm amazed at how much they know and how well they can communicate.  they have friends and they are attentive (as far as i can tell) and do their best.  they're only about 10 or 11 and are still young enough i can sense their innate goodness.  they seem happy to work and i've actually seen the cogs in their brains working to figure things out.  it's like seeing learning in its purest form.  when i taught high school i didn't get to see that very often - way too many distractions if it was happening at all.  i wonder if i'm as open to learning as they are.  to be teachable and fresh... is that possible after so many years of being bounced around on the rocks of life? (ha -i say that as if i've had such a hard life - but you know what i mean.) i get to go again today.  i'm looking forward to it.  maybe they'll teach me a thing or two.