Charpie's Travels

Kindergarten Phonics dealt with phonographs today. I want to know how many adults even know what a phonograph is. For one question, we were supposed to find words containing "ell". Elizabeth, my quietest girl, raised her hand rather quickly. Her word? Hell. Judging by the smile on her face afterward, I'd say she was pretty pleased with herself for that answer. My fourth graders wanted to open a window because they were all hot. I protested because I was cold.  Hanna and Kevin pulled out their coats, draped them over my shoulders, pulled the hoods over my head, and even buttoned them around my neck so as to keep them from falling off. No one ever got around to opening a window. At least then we all roasted together. One of the mothers bought smoothies for all the teachers today. Just for the record, that's a lot of smoothie. I happened to get a tomato smoothie. It was more bizarre than last week's "fruit salad" (tangerines, sunflower seeds, grape to...

Jaden couldn't decide where on his sticker board to put his sticker, so he played eeny-meeny-miny-mo. It seems the winning spot was not, in fact, a good spot. So he tried again. This time he eeny-meenied all out of order - and only to select spots. And he definitely paused and planned his move before pointing his finger the final time. I'm not sure he grasps the concept of the game yet. I'm just happy he made a decision in under 90 seconds. 

The Good - Sleeping later than 8am - Church - Lunch in Buddha's Belly - Three variations of rice in one day - Post-lunch vanilla frappe - Pre-dinner caramel macchiato The Bad - No unni visit today - Complainer Quota exceeded - Watching drunk man collapse after being kicked out of restaurant The Stellar - Coconut beef curry - Coat-free temperatures - Clear blue sky - Exploring downtown with Bethel - Dinner with Amy - Mouse (rat?) scurrying through floor-seating restaurant - Being given a rose - Hearing two people say "shimmy" in one day

Some kids seem to think their intelligence exempts them from homework. Ryan informed me, when he started first grade, that he didn't have to do the homework because it was "too easy." Sunwoo is a fourth-grader with a steady supply of words and jokes and random trivia. While he didn't tell me he was too smart for homework, I pegged him as having that mentality. He did, however, complete the three journals that I assigned for writing class. And he didn't just write them, either. He wrapped the three pages individually in green X-Files paper, and he wouldn't let anyone near them except me.  "These are for the queen!" he announced as he proudly presented them. "Do not let anyone else see!"