Along the Merry Way....

Poor little Tony has been told and teased multiple times that he looks like a piglet. Unfortunately, this has sunk very deeply into his impressionable little pysche. Anyways, the boys had been studying falcons and other birds of prey, so Jane decided to take them to a local birds-of-prey sanctuary, where they could watch the falcons and bald eagles swooping around. When they arrived, Louis, the smaller of the two boys, was ecstatic. He is naturally very curious and spent hours investigating the critters in the pond out back, drawing birds, and voraciously learning as much as he could about local wildlife. Tony, however, was petrified. He had read that bald eagles eat small animals, which includes small rodents, which probably includes little-boys-who-closely-resemble-piglets. Tony is small and round and very cute, and his nose is slightly upturned, but he very definitely looks human, and eagles are smart enough to tell the difference between piglets and cute little boys. Nevertheless, ...

We were able to substitute the regular morning phonics class for a "baking class" and made apple crisp together. The children were super excited that they got to mix the topping with their bare hands. Clumps of butter-sugar topping seemed to keep on mysteriously going missing. The little imps: Nick and Louis! Tony, learning how to peel an apple: Tony and Martin (fondly known as To-to and Fartin'): Here is the very simple recipe: Apple Crisp 1 half a bag of apples, preferrably old, soft ones (peeled, cored, and diced) A few sprinkles of cinnamon One tablespoon of lemon juice Topping : 1 cup of butter 1 cup of sugar 3-4 cups of rolled oats 1/2 cup of flour A sprinkle of cinnamon Mix the topping together with your hands until it's crumbly. You can add other things like milk and honey if it is too dry. If you want more topping, then just add more sugar, butter, and oats. The good thing is that you can use just about any kind of fruit that is starting t...

The children are incredibly enthusiastic and excitable. After classes are finished, they work together on their journals, and during this time, they are supposed to be quiet and focused. However, the moment all is silent, a little head inevitably pops up like a gopher out of its hole. Someone will deliver a quote from Shrek that sends the rest of them into hysterics. Then a scuffle breaks out between two of the boys. Jane (the other teacher) and I smooth things out. Silence returns, then another gopher pops out of its hole. Someone asks, "Do you know the muffin man?" and little voices chirp back, "The muffin man?" Then another scuffle breaks out. Jane and I restore order; there might even be a few mild threats. They resume their writing quietly until a third gopher bursts out, "Teacher! Do you remember what happened yesterday? Tony and Louis fell in the pond!" Suddenly every gopher in the field is dying with laughter, and Tony has turned bright red. When t...

Two bedraggled children – Tony and Louis – shuffled into the living room yesterday, leaving little damp foot-prints behind them. They stared shamefacedly down at their feet, shoulders slumped and hands behind them, as water dripped off their noses and trickled through their sodden clothes onto the floor. “Teacher,” Tony confessed to Jonquil, not daring to look up, “Teacher......we........went in the pond.” The pond is a deep and wide pool behind the house. It is the muddy home of crayfish, salamanders, frogs, and turtles and seems to have a magnetic pull on the little boys. They are fascinated by all the exotic creepy-crawlies that they can find there. “Teacher,” Tony continued, “We were trying to catch crayfish, and..........we....... fell in .” They were so afraid of getting in trouble that they could hardly believe it when all the adults started laughing at their sorry plight. Louis gave me his version: “Teacher, we were walking in the water and very fast it was deep." So, I...

Then there is Seymin (His name is a bit of a joke among the teachers, poor little fellow). His mother is living with us and helping to cook. He is the most incredible child I have ever encountered. He is only one, but he wears the clothes of a four year old. He is gigantic but still has the muscle control of a baby, so he lumbers awkwardly about like a big wooden puppet. He has wandered around ever since arriving from Korea with a rather stunned and upset look on his face, saying all the time, "Boi? Boi?" (This literally means, What the Hell? What the Hell? ) Even in church, during a quieter moment, you'll hear, "Boi?" echo from the back. Like a walking tank or machine of destruction, he lunges for the weakest and most breakable things. I've seen the child attach himself to the cane of a wobbling old man and try to rip away his only support. I've seen him charge the sun-glasses stand in a store. He springs again and again at drinking glasses, knives, po...