Creative Kids… Back In My Day
Fletcher has this icebreaker idea at the dinner table where we pretend we are old folks. In a silly almost Southern accent he says things like, “Back in my day, we didn’t have Star Destroyers!” and “Kids these days have no respect” 🤣 There were so many funny ones and I can’t remember them! Some of my favorites:
- “Back in my day, we drank milk!” -W
- “Back in my day, I used to have hair!” -F
- “Back in my day, we ate cookies in the morning.” -W
- “Back in my day, we had to make those darned cookies.” -Jer
- “Back in my day, we had Malls.” -L
- “How old are you? 10? Then you get 10 spankings.” -F
- “Back in my day, we had to walk.” -L
- “Back in my day, we had VCRs and had to rewind it before watching a movie.” -Jer
- “Back in my day, we had good movies.” -F
Here are some updates on the kids.
The Poetic Pianist
F got Student of the Month in October. “F was an example of ‘Clarity and Self Control’ by staying composed in different situations and handling challenges with a positive attitude.” He played “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” on the grand piano at his Christmas recital.
F has been learning about Poetry at school, and it’s his favorite subject now. In addition to creating ditties on the piano, he now makes up lyrics for songs that include rapping. Then he performs them for us enthusiastically, and W joins in with dance moves, and for the rest of the day we can’t get his songs out of our heads. It’s pretty much the best! I’m not sure of the title of his latest creation, but it goes, “Skateboarding on a see saw, skateboarding on a rock, skateboarding on a see saw, skateboarding on a rock. I saw a cactus, a whole bunch of spines, I say to myself ‘I’m a porcupine!’” 🤣 When Jer asked him if he could make it make more sense, F firmly told him that it’s a song and it doesn’t have to make sense. I agree! It’s way more fun that way!
The Medieval Critical Thinker
W got Student of the Month in November. “W was an example of ‘Critical Thinking’ by asking thoughtful questions in both literacy and math. He looks for clues in the text, and he explains his ideas clearly. In Math he shows strong problem solving skills by trying different strategies, checking his work, and explaining his answers. He is a wonderful role model to his peers. Thanks for working hard! ❤️ Mrs. Tanner”
W is now obsessed with Medieval times. For Christmas he asked for a Lego castle, and this was after we’d already bought his Big Present Lego. Jer sadly crushed his dreams of a Lego medieval castle to build when he told him Lego doesn’t carry a set like that anymore. He wanted to watch the entire Hobbit and Lord of the Ring trilogies to see the castles and armor. Then he crafted helmets and armor in different styles using thicker paper, thinner cardboard, regular tape and scissors, and a hole puncher. He and F battle it out with their lightsaber swords, and get so into it that we sometimes have to confiscate the weapons before someone’s glasses break off their faces by accident.
The Celebrating Artist
In November, L practiced for hours every day on her viola and also extra percussion instruments for an orchestra concert. For the first time we got to see her perform at the front with all the rest of the violas! She is an amazing performer and we are so proud seeing her play so beautifully on stage. I wish I got better photos to share.
L is working hard on beautiful artwork to give to her loved ones for Christmas. The piece she showed me was for her brother W, depicting George Washington crossing the Delaware because W said his favorite period in American History is the Revolutionary War. She combined techniques from her watercolor unit in school and some things she learned from a watercolor art book we borrowed from the library once.
I’m so proud of how thoughtful and creative these kiddos are. How lucky I am that they share their hearts and minds with me.
