By Simon Wolfsin (sic) Whitwirth (sic).
Yes, he misspelled his own last name. I guess they don’t write it much in class, and with his focus on phonics, he’s sounding everything out and going by that. The other day he wrote in a note that someone or something was “Osam”. I didn’t have the heart to correct him.
Anyway, last week the Brandeis Ks did an “All About Me” unit that included and all about me book. He drew his house and his family, lamented his lack of siblings, and wrote about and drew a picture of his professional aspirations, i.e. being a professional soccer player. It’s that or being a computer programmer, and who wants to draw a picture of the latter?
At the end of his book came a short questionnaire about favorites that made me chuckle. Here goes:
These are my favorites.
Number: 42 [It is, after all, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, but I’m not sure if his peers or teacher know this.]
Toy: Monster Truck [I call foul. It’s his Foosball table.]
Game: Cars Monopoly [true enough. Also Uno]
Holiday: Hanuka (sic) [Maybe next year someone else will have heard of it!]
Color: Indigo [The consistency and specificity of this answer cracks me up.]
Book: The Little Snowflake [Mr. Sowder gave him this book for a holiday present. Is he sucking up? His real favorite is Captain Underpants.]
TV Show: “500 Gratist Goles” (sic) [Simon was confused that no one had heard of this amazing show. Probably because no one else in his class watches Fox Soccer Channel all the time. Or, you know, at all. His second favorite is “Word Girl”.]
Season: Winter [But only if it snows]
Day of the Week: Saturday [soccer game day, ’nuff said]
This reminded me of a project my daughter in law did for her son, Avery. She made a book of all the folks in Avery’s life. With photos and a funny, kind, whimsical description. Since all four of Avery’s grandparents are divorced and re-married, and are spread across the United States, it seems a brilliant idea. When we went down to Richmond to visit, she had shown him our pages; it made our initial hour very easy. And that is Avery’s Book of Me.