Ramblings: Hunting Trip

Maddie's class takes turns bringing home "class books"--a book wherein everyone completes their own page and then the teacher compiles, binds, and laminates it so they can take turns reading it. She brought one home Friday that the class made around Thanksgiving called "What I Would Do..." The first page says "What would you do if you were a pilgrim?" and it's filled with similar looking pilgrim people and a sentence typed by the student using sound spelling.

They are really BIG on sound spelling--meaning the kids are to write words phonetically and parents are NOT allowed to intervene, instruct, correct, or give hints at ANY COST and no matter how much they beg. Or they rip off your nails and then dip your fingers in lemon juice. And if they suspect you helped your kid spell something on her homework, they send a note to your parents telling them what a bad parent you are because you refuse to respect the learning process and that now you deserve a good spanking. Or something like that...I'm too afraid to find out. "NO MADDIE--I will NOT tell you how to spell 'recess'---just sound it out even though it's a tricky one and there's not an ice cube's chance in heck that you will even get close to spelling it correctly. I CANNOT and WILL NOT aide you in your spelling needs at this point in your educational journey. You are on your own, sister. I will, however, repeat the word sllllllllooooooooooowwwlllly five or six thousand times so you can try to hear all the individual sounds and you can take a crack at spelling it the best you know how." (Which is probably a violation of the Sound Spelling Code, I don't know. I didn't read all the fine print.)

And regardless of how many panic attacks I have, I will NOT sneak back into your backpack, remove your homework from your red folder, frantically erase the misspelled words, and in my best attempt at forging crazy kindergarten handwriting, rewrite them so that they are spelled correctly. I won't do it--even though it drives me crazy knowing that a paper FULL of misspelled words is sitting in there, just waiting to be turned in. I will just take a bunch of deep breaths and conquer that tiny little part of my OCD.

(As a side note--Sound Spelling used to drive Alex CRAZY. He'd get so worked up wanting me to tell him how to spell something that he'd end up having a complete breakdown if I didn't. So I had to adapt the rules. I'd make him try and then I'd tell him how to correct any misspellings. He has always been a really good speller and he'd remember the correct spelling the next time he wrote the word, so I figured it would be ok. Just don't go rat me out to his kindergarten teacher. I can't take any more notes going home to my parents. Maddie is fine with the rules--it doesn't bother her at all that her spelling might not be perfect.)

Anyway, sound spelling leads to many funny looking words and sentences in the class books. The teacher usually writes the word that the kid was aiming for underneath the misspelled car wreck of the word. Most of the kids in the pilgrim book wrote about how they would cook or hunt or be soldiers. Some got more detailed, a few veered off the beaten course. But mostly there was cooking and hunting going on.

This kid got creative and specified he'd be building a house. Nice. I like the eyelashes and the guy's one devious looking eyebrow.
This is Maddie's--she'll have to give me her bread recipe. Heaven knows I don't make any other kind than banana. **Note to self**teach Maddie where the spacebar is and address the medical impossibilities related to a fully-functioning floating head.
Now this last one is really my favorite. I may just print it and hang it on my fridge. I like that he really tried to get specific about what he would hunt...but I'm still cracking up. The teacher's translation is 'animals,' but I think that might be a stretch. Sheesh, pilgrims these days!