Anna started a new school year off in a new school due to rezoning, and though this school is only 2 years old and is very nice (WITH air conditioning, I might add) I had my doubts. You see, not to sound like a snob but this school is on "the wrong side of the tracks". This means a rougher 'hood and rougher kids. I was a bit worried that Anna might not know how to interact with kids that have to fend for themselves a lot, and I was worried that the tougher kids might take advantage of Anna's lack of "street smarts".
It's been a week and so far she loves it. She loves her teacher and the kids in her class, and come to find out that this school gets the best of the best as far as teachers in the district due to the need for teachers with the abilities to deal with the type of situations that might arise in this type of neighborhood.
Anna was already doing really well in kindergarten with her reading, and though I had some slight worries that she would forget what she had learned over the summer she surprised me by taking the initiative and reading on her own. I could hear her reading in her room, and we read after breakfast. :)
That being said, Anna is expected to bring home a new book everyday, and everyday she has to read this book three times and the people she reads to have to sign a slip each time she reads. She can bring the book back in when she is done with it, even if it's a few days later, but they are encouraging the kids to bring the book back the very next day.
Yesterday she read her book to me after school, then read to her dad after dinner. When I reminded her that she had to read the book a 3rd time, she sighed but dove right back into it.
Only this time, obviously bored with the book she decided to spice things up a bit by reading
Biscuit Wins a Prize with a southern accent. Good Lord, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. When I say southern accent, think
Foghorn Leghorn heavily laced with a shot each of
Yosemite Sam, and
Forrest Gump. Now add a dash of Christopher Walken.
These lines:
Oh, Biscuit! It's not time to roll over.
Woof, woof!
suddenly turned into this:
Ough, Beeass-kit.............................. Eet's nawt tahhm to rowel ovah!
Woaf, woaf!
When we were done howling, and Anna was done giggling, wiping back tears I said I wished I had gotten that on video. "Me too, mom! Then you could have put it on
yer blawg!"
She's already a legend... in her own mind. ;)
Just so you know what I'm talking about, here are the first few pages. We encourage the girls to participate by pausing so that they can insert appropriate words that are related to the story, sometimes from memory.
He could also use a bigger pad to impress the laaaaaa-dies...
