How are the kiddos?

The past 2 weeks have been tiring and full, but my students and I are starting to get used to each other, and there's been a little less "testing the teacher" going on. We actually got to experience something very special together last week--my parents were up in the cities for Cameron's knee surgery, and they decided to stop by my class. My dad brought soybean plants and corn stalks (which are 8 feet tall), corn and beans for the kids to run their fingers through, and little toy models of his combines and tractors. The kids were completely enamored by the corn, beans, and machinery. It was so cute to watch them try to process all of the statistics my dad was giving them, and the child-like questions they asked him: "Do you have pigs?" "Do you have cows?" "Do you have ANY animals?" "You don't look like a farmer...." This was fun for me to watch and really remember how many of my little ones have so many things they have not experienced yet. Even though they're stinkers a lot of the time :) they really are hungry to learn.

In the past 2 weeks we've also had some "interesting moments". One of my kiddos looked up at me in the middle of the morning and said (with a lisp and a Spanish accent), "Mrs. Hardie! I have gum in my shoe!" Sure enough--HUGE piece of chewed gum in his sock! Huh... Needless to say, he went sockless the rest of the day. Another favorite, was my little Eduardo (who the kids keep calling EGGuardo--oh boy!) When I returned to the classroom in the afternoon after they'd had a substitute teacher all morning, he said: "Mrs. Hardie, you look....you look....you look good!" I think he was trying to say he missed me...nothing like a 6-year-old to boost the ego! Finally, I have a number of kiddos whose parents only speak/read Spanish. Fortunately, I have all of our Math homework and family letters in Spanish. One day last week I forgot to give the kids that needed them the Spanish homework. One little guy came running up to me, waving his English homework, and screaming (literally) "Mrs. Hardie! I need the Mexican papers!" Oh dear--he's not a shy one. ;) I wish I could show you pictures of them, but pretty sure posting them online without parent consent is a BIG NO-NO! ;) While this crew is a LOT more work than my classes the past couple of years, I am learning to find them endearing and love their little quirks....like how several of the little boys tell me "I love you" instead of "I'm sorry" when they're in trouble--wonder where they learned that from? And I think they'll learn to love First Grade too....Here's hoping!