Pearls From the Past

Out of the mouths of babes......Some tidbits from my tenure as an educator.......

1

This particular day, the vocabulary review word was wise and a 3rd grader volunteered that it meant "really old and have been through life - like you". Then she smiled.

2

The kids read Ramona Forever, a story about a family having a baby. Ramona isn't allowed in the maternity ward because she is too young. I tell the kids that when this story took place, kids weren't allowed in maternity wards. Then I had to explain what a maternity ward was because they never heard of one.  Well, most of them had heard of that place where Moms and Dads go to have babies, but they had never heard of the term maternity ward.  When we reviewed Ramona Forever, I repeated that Ramona's parents are going to the hospital to have the baby and one student yells, "YEAH,  HER WATER PROBABLY BROKE!" I didn't know about that kind of thing until Jackie and I were expecting our firstborn! My, how times have changed!

3

In a related Ramona story, students talked about how it feels to have a new sibling. A dialogue commenced:

Student:                  Do you have kids?

Me:                        Yes, three boys and one girl, and it is my girl's birthday.

Student:                  What's her name?

Me:                         Karen.

Another Student:     How old is she?

Me:                         22.

Another Student      That's impossible! Then you must be 32!

A Third Student      Nah, you must be in your 40's!

I told them how right they all were and moved on, feeling that I was enjoying being with those kids that day!

More tidbits to come!