School Days

School

Look, Dick. Look Jane.

 See Spot. See Puff. 

Run, Dick.

Run, Jane.

Run, run, run!

That is how I learned to read in first grade.

Then came my very important day--

reading with the second graders across the hall. 

There I came face to face with an unknown word.

SQUIRREL 

The picture on the page didn't help.

I didn't know how to sound it out. 

I finally just blurted  SKIRL.  

I was wrong.

I didn't even know what a squirrel was.

We didn't have those where I lived.

 I was so embarrassed,

but I loved school

One plus five equals six.

Three times two is six.

Six times an unknown number can be written 6x

The square root of thirty-six is six

Axioms, theorems, cosigns and tangents.

Areas, volumes, miles per hour and pounds per square inch.

Give me numbers any day.

I loved school

I loved

the waxy aroma of new crayons,

the sight of punched, lined notebook paper,

the feel of new text books and smell of the old,

the sounds of band practice,

and cleaning chalkboard erasers.

I loved school.

Excuse the nostalgia, but as students across the country head back to school these next weeks, I hope and pray that at least some of them go back with anticipation and excitement for what awaits them. I desire that these children will have their eyes opened to the wonders of the world around them, that they will explore, discover, question, and imagine.   

Just thinking about school brings to mind several stories of my grandchildren's early elementary days. A granddaughter was learning about the planets and their differences. Some were rocky. Others were gaseous. When her mother asked what the moon was like, she quickly informed Mom that the moon was not a planet, but it was soft. When my granddaughter was asked why she thought that, she quickly responded, "I saw a video of  men walking on the moon. They bounced."

My oldest grandson, now in the Air Force, wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up, but he didn't like to read. He didn't like sitting still for his reading group. My obvious question for him was, "How will you become an astronaut, if you don't learn to read?" His answer was simply, "I'll watch the video." Of course. Why didn't I think of that.

Another grandson just happened to have his dad as his first-grade teacher. At the end of one of the first days, the children were all gathered in a big circle on the carpet. My son, the teacher, asked the kids what they knew at the end of the day that they hadn't known when they came to school that morning. After a long moment of silence, my grandson, wanting to help his dad out, finally piped up, "Well, If I hadn't known it already, I would have learned..." He then proceeded to talk about the day's proceedings.

It is now early afternoon where I live. What do I know now that I didn't know when I got up this morning? What have I learned about the world from listening to the radio? What have I learned about birds from Bibi the Parrot, and a newly hatched ostrich chick? What have I learned about motion from watching the trees blow in the wind? What have I learned about color from watching the play of sunlight and shadow on the leaves of the plants outside my window? What have I learned about myself  from listening to my heart as I have been writing this post?  

What has God been trying to teach me since I got up this morning? 

Sitting at the feet of the greatest teacher there is and trying to take it all in.

Forever a student,

Jan