How do I count the ways? There is not a day when I do not go home giggling over some adorable thing one or the other of them did.
Little Darlin' (age 4) is having his very first school experience with me--no pressure!--and he adores the routine. Runs over to the Daily Schedule posted on the wall and gleefully recites the ordered list of activities every day. Even at home, his mother says, he runs around saying "Daily Schedule! Daily Schedule! Where's the schedule?" Today he was so cute--I was reading them a story to fill a few minutes between P.E. and Art (regular story time is between Class Meeting and snack), and he looked at me quizically and said, "It's story time?"
This energetic little guy also instituted the "going to recess/library/computer lab by impersonating an animal" trend one morning when I opened the door to find two "frogs" hopping back from recess. It was Letter F/ Sound /f/ week, and they managed to get where they needed to go without disturbing anyone, so I figured, cool. (Their dedication was extraordinary: it's quite a ways to the play area and it can't be easy on the knees!) Teacher Begum (my boss) drew the line when a couple of "monkeys" showed up to computer lab yesterday and found it nearly impossible to get out of monkey mode during their class. They've since cooked up some slightly less dramatic means by which to travel.
Little Sweetie (age 5) has had a little bit of pre-school in the U.S., and he just adores school. At the end of the day we sing a goodbye song and talk about our favorite activities of the day; when I ask him what he liked best, he invariably says, "Everything!" Little Sweetie likes to tell about things--his family, things he saw at home or on t.v., etc. He's fun to listen to. Whenever he sees someone doing something that's dangerous, etc. he says, "It's not a good habit." He also told me, during a discussion about coping with anger for the Feelings unit, that when we're angry we can feel better by going to a lawyer.
Today was another fabulous gem from Little Sweetie: We were brainstorming ideas about how to get from place to place quickly, quietly, and safely (and without monkeys). Instead of Brainstorming, our class calls this "Having an Idea Party." As I listed the kids' ideas L.S. kept calling out, "People Party! People Party!" Uh, yeah, we're having a party . . . I guess. I made some sort of noncommittal yet supportive noise about our activity and he said, "No, news! People Party on the news!" The light dawned: "Do you mean the Pakistan People's Party? With Ms. Benazir?" "Yes!" cried a delighted Little Sweetie. "People Party on the news!"
My other favorite L.S./L.D. story of the week is from yesterday, when we had our first emergency lock-down practice drill. I presented the operation to the kids as an opportunity to play the "Hiding from the Bad Guys Game," and you can imagine how jazzed they were about that--their eyes just lit up. During our Class Meeting they offered lots of good ideas about how to play the game (Idea Party again), and then they did just a fabulous job during the drill. Hiding for an extended period is not as easy as you might think for a couple of active little kids. I was so proud, and told them they were champions at that game.
Tomorrow is Smelling and Tasting Day for Five Senses Week. Should be a hoot.
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