Category Archives: Education

Today was the South Greenville County Fair. My daughter was excited for three reasons. The first was that her grandfather (my wife’s dad) runs the fair and her cousins would be showing cows. The second was that she knew she would get to show a cow (with her eldest cousin’s help). The third was thatContinue reading “Moooving On Up!”

Two examples from just today of why my daughter’s memory might not be a sufficient guide to what’s going on at school. First, she went through a mini-meltdown cycle at dinner as she recalled that today was a special toy day where kids were allowed to bring a toy…and she hadn’t brought one. She accusedContinue reading “The Vagaries of Memory”

At dinner tonight, our daughter talked about her attempts at friendship. A classmate was crying because the teacher had taken his Chromebook away because of his behavior. “I went to him and said, ‘If you ever need me, I will be here for you,’” she explained. “Wasn’t that being a good friend?” We said itContinue reading “Being a Good Friend”

Our daughter has grown up an only child. She doesn’t know what it’s like to get lumped into the misdeeds of a sibling or to draw someone else into your own shenanigans. She gets rewarded or punished and receives mercy or grace on her own. When she got home from school today, she played teacher.Continue reading “Corporate Consequences”

Today, I started what I hoped will be a new habit with my daughter: teaching her a joke. My reasons: She’s been telling the same stale jokes from one episode of PBS kids show she watched two weeks ago, and I’ve about had it! Most jokes are short, and she can memorize them easily. JokesContinue reading “Jokes”

Today was my daughter’s birthday party. She received many gifts (Barbie accoutrement, Legos) that required assembly. It was a chance to see her at work and to see how she handled adversity in the midst of learning. She spent nearly four hours assembling various Lego sets. The sets all contained pictorial instructions. Her work onContinue reading “Legos”

My daughter is six now, but she has yet to lose her first tooth. She has a bottom-front tooth that is ready to break out of its rusty cage and run. My wife wants to pull it out. I would pull it out if called upon. But our daughter is scared. And so the afternoonContinue reading “Loose Tooth”

My wife and I often sing The Kinks’ song “Picture Book.” It features the line, “Picture book, pictures of your mama, taken by your papa a long time ago.” Picture books for children feature drawings, though, and so I had both this song and children’s books on my mind as a result of a projectContinue reading “Picture Books”

My daughter was on campus with me this morning. As she listened to this Old Town School of Folk Music record and leafed through some books I got her from our campus library, I read this post from Seth Godin titled “The Modern Curriculum.” I spent the rest of the morning contemplating what it wouldContinue reading “Infinite Games”

My daughter is home for the week because of COVID exposure at school. While I was at school teaching, my wife was at home with our daughter. Apparently, the pair played a lot today. The most elaborate part of their play involved church. My daughter dictated a bulletin to my wife complete with announcements, aContinue reading “Learning by Liturgy”