That time Elliot tried…

To put a plate into the oven thinking it was the dishwasher and asked me: do I put it this way (vertical) or this way (horizontal)?"

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New words

Preparance

Complexness


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Fraction king

 I said something took 80 minutes, and Elliot said after a beat "that's 4/3 of an hour." Like, no one asked him, he just wondered what the fraction would be and figured it out. He gave us a cute little explanation as well. 

Nightmare

E had a nightmare from the Goosebumps they watched tonight. He came into bed with me to be comforted, then was almost ready to go back to his own bed. I said, " et's list some things you can think of when you're afraid. Good things, like playing Minecraft with daddy… " and when he didn't jump in I added, "or playing with Maisie the puppy…" and then I said, lwhat else could you think of?" and he said, "you!"

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The Eagles fight song...

 ...according to E, age 7:

E! Something! Something! Something! Something! S! Go EAGLES!

What? I don't know how to spell it.

 Hi Ms. Stone and Mr. Barker,

I hope you’re having a nice evening! I wanted to reach out to share this awesome photo of Elliot from Science today. We were learning how to predict stable positions while balancing different shapes using counterweights. Elliot continues to be a kind, hardworking student and I love having him in class!

Have a great night,

Brooke Seidel
2nd Grade Teacher
Merion Elementary

Kindness

 I hope you had a great weekend! When I picked the students up from lunch today, Elliot received such a wonderful compliment that I had to share with you! There was a student from another class sitting at the allergy free table alone, and Elliot was so kind and offered to sit with this student. Elliot shared that he did not know this student, but he offered to sit with the student anyway, so that he wasn’t alone. I praised him on his kindness and willingness to help others. 

I was so proud of him, and wanted to share this with you as well. Have a great week!

Brooke Seidel
2nd Grade Teacher
Merion Elementary

First Day of Second Grade

 

Seidel, Brooke	Tue, Sep 6, 8:18 PM (3 days ago)
to thomas.p.barker@gmail.com, me

Hi Ms. Stone and Mr. Barker,

I hope you’re having a nice evening. I wanted to reach out to share about Elliot’s wonderful first day in 2S! He did such a great job following directions and connecting with his peers. He was super brave, and was one of the first students in the class to present his “Me Bag”! I was so impressed with his confidence and excitement to share. 

Looking forward to more great days ahead!
Brooke

Brooke Seidel
2nd Grade Teacher
Merion Elementary

Sunscream

Still, at 7

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At the Phillies game

E: "I wanna go back in your belly."

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Working on the diorama for school

E: "this is going to be awesome! Because I'm doing it with my mom!"

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What he wants every night

Tickle—o—mata

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Barf

M: (offering a fork full of beef) Want to try some of this beef?
E: I think it's pronounced "barf."

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Words of wisdom

E: "sometimes you have to lie to stay alive."

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Mathematical thinking

E during Rogue One, apropos of nothing: "Two odd numbers can make an even number but two even numbers can never make an odd number. Ugh!!!"

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Election thoughts

I want to elect Donald Trump into office jail. Where he has to do paperwork.

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On Halloween night

 E: How many days until Christmas?

M: Ok, Google, how many days until Christmas?

Google: 55 days until Christmas in Merion.

E: How many hours is that?

Library magic

Elliot's been into folding paper airplanes at school during "quiet time." He's even been folding them for friends who "pay" him back with drawings. It's so sweet.

This weekend he confessed, "I don't really know how to fold GOOD paper airplanes." And I suggested the library might have a book on it. He didn't want to wait to go to the school library, so after soccer I took him, still in his cleats and shin guards, to Bala Cynwyd library with his card.

With my prompting, he walked right up to the children's librarian and announced, "I'm looking for a book about folding paper airplanes." She said, "Let's see what we can do." She searched the computer and wrote down a call number on a slip of paper which she handed to him. She pointed him toward the non-fiction section, saying, "Here's where we keep all the books that aren't made up stories." She gave a kid-friendly explanation of the Dewey decimal system and then lead him through the search for his call number. When we made it to the right shelf and I started reading through the titles, finally getting to "Your first book of paper airplanes," he exclaimed, "That's it! That's the one!" I We found a second one, and I asked if he wanted to look for any other books. Nope, he had what he was looking for. He checked them out himself on the computer and carried them to the car.

As soon as he was buckled, he opened the first book and laughed out loud in delight. "Mommy," he said, "There's more than one in here!"

I wish I could bottle this memory to share with him when he gets older, but the sheer joy that the library would have just what he was looking for was beautiful to watch.

Soccer

{kids are distracted, not paying attention}

Coach: who wants to play the next game? Raise your hand.

{6 kids raise their hand}

E: I don't even know what the next game is?!

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Moral of the story

I told E a bedtime story about a little boy who so spoke meanly to robots but then learned to be nice to everyone . And towards the end he said, "wait—are you telling me this so I'll think about it and be nice?!"

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