Lemme Open House

Last night was Will's back to school night. We had a parent meeting first, while the kids were all taken care of in other parts of the building, divided up by age. Sam got to hang out with all the 4 year old siblings, plus all of the kindergardner's in the music room. He already knew several neighborhood friends and got to sing songs and hear stories by the music teacher! He's practically ready for kindergarden next year. How weird of a thought is that?! (We kept Max with us.) When we got to Will's room, his alter ego greeted us at his desk:
Lots of time and thought was spent getting these guys ready - notice he's holding his pencil? We actually had to take an English test that Will's probably grading at this moment! (grading your own work with a red pen is a big deal this year.) It involved correcting sentences that had spelling, punctuation, grammar and capitalization mistakes. Ooh, I hope I got a good grade! The bottom half was matching facts with the different teachers. Don't think I did so well on that one. We got to hear about what all they're studying this year and sign up Will up for "student of the week." He'll get to do lots of special jobs that week, have his family visit, bring treats and have some sharing time. When I told him I signed him up, he got a panicked look on his face and said he didn't want to do it. (They've only just started this.) Hopefully by the time his turn rolls around in November (I picked his b-day week) he'll feel more comfortable with the idea. After the meeting, Will was so proud to show us around his classroom and introduce us to Mr. MIMAL. Evidently Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Alabama and Louisiana make up the figure of a man, holding a frying pan. There are many other states that make up his various accessories. I was quite impressed that Will knew quite a few states and where they are using this method. I'd never heard of this before, but if I'd had some helpful devices like this growing up I might be a lot more knowledgable about geography today! Lemme has a new art teacher this year who asked the kids to decorate his room. So all the walls and cupboard doors are covered with little guys like this one that Will made: