"Just Come Over for Dinner"

Last week in school Paul was tested on his "kindergarten readiness" skills - knows name, knows address, etc. I am THRILLED to report that he now knows (and understands and accepts!) his full name. This is a big deal! It took a lot of bedtime discussions to work through the surname confusion, discussions that naturally opened up more questions about adoption and birth families and pregnancy and caregivers and friends still in the orphanage. (Is it just me, or do these existential questions arise only at bedtime, when everyone's tired except the child who's meant to be falling asleep?)

He also knows his lunch number, which is odd because he never buys lunch. I pack a lunch - chock full of fruit - every day. I don't even know if he knows that buying a lunch is an option. So I've never even mentioned that he has a lunch number. Yet he knows it. Hmmmm.

He does not know his address, at least for the teacher. (He does know his address when his dad is threatening to tickle him if he doesn't recite it. He'll blurt it out in squeals of anticipatory hysteria.) Instead of grades, perhaps the teacher needs to implement tickling as a consequence.

I was lamenting the learning of addresses and phone numbers to another teacher, a second grade teacher, when she disclosed that they work on this in second grade, too. Second grade! We have another chance at this key element of learning! A reprieve. She said some of her second graders still struggle with remembering their address. One little girl, frustrated with the line of questioning, said, "Mrs. Teacher, why don't you just come over for dinner? Then you'll know where I live!"

The teacher gave her an 18 out of 20. The little girl was problem solving, and isn't that what we need to teach all our kids?

Teachers are welcome to come over for dinner anytime!