I remember when children didn't go back to school in July or August. Yes, back in the day, kids went back to school after Labor Day. To this day, when September comes, I think, "back-to-school." This year is no exception and as I've thought about Septembers past, I've thought about Tee.
Being the only girl in a gaggle of brothers, Tee grew into one tough little gal while she was very young. She really had to assert herself in a testosterone jungle. The fact that she was also extremely intelligent and very precocious helped a lot.
Tee's first experience with "school" came when she was two and a half. I had volunteered to help some bussed-in students get oriented, so I needed to find a day-care center who would take children on a single day basis. In our town, there were two. I decided to make Tee part of the choosing process, so we went to visit both centers. The minute we drove up to the first building, the choice was made and I didn't make it. Tee wanted to know the name on the sign and I read aloud, "Baby-Boo Nursery." That was all she wrote! Tee refused to get out of the car. She said she would not go to any school where they said, "Boo!" to the baby!
I could tell how her day went at the care center we chose when I picked her up. She was glad to see me, but seemed pretty happy otherwise. We stopped at the market on the way home and that's when I got the full story. I asked, "How was your day in school" She answered by quoting her teacher: "Keacher [teacher] kell [tell] me (spoken tenderly) 'Don't cwy. You mommy be wight back. ~ Keacher kell me (spoken less tenderly) 'Don't cwy. You mommy be wight back.' Keacher kell me (voice raised in exasperation) 'Stop it cwying! You mommy be wight back!'" Tee didn't go to "school" again for a year.
After that first day, we settled into our routine. After breakfast, we'd watch Beed (4th grade) and Sess (1st grade) walk down our lane to the bus stop. When they were safely on the bus, Tee and Mommy snuggled in the rocking chair to watch Captain Kangaroo. She loved it! She learned many things from the Captain. She could say her ABCs frontwards and her ZYXs backwards before she was three and frequently entered into conversations with Mr. Green Jeans and laughed every time Bunny Rabbit dropped ping pong balls on Mr. Moose.
One thing she learned was unique to her. Children that young can't tell time, but they can experience it. Based on her experiences with the Captain Kangaroo show, Tee began to tell time by Captain Kangaroos. With that as her frame of reference, she knew that driving to see Aunt Dot was 1/2 of a Captain Kangaroo, while going to see Grandpa and Grandma took more than 6 Captain Kangaroos. When we made plans, Tee would always ask, "How many Captain Kangaroos is that?" Pretty smart, I think.
Tee finally got to go to "school" when she was three and a half. I decided to go back to school myself and the university had its own day care center. Tee loved it (no more cwying). She called it her anibersity. As I said, she was one smart cookie. Come to think of it, she still is!
© 2012 Gebara Education
Picture of school and bus from www.onescrappymom.com
Picture of Captain Kangaroo from multiple sources on the web
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