"We don't learn at school"

Yesterday Zee, sick with a stomach bug, had to miss school for the first time. True to kindergartener form, he was disappointed to miss a day of fun and learning. Except, apparently, there isn't a lot of learning going on, at least in his mind.

Zee asked, "Momma, why do you like me to go to school?"

"Well, Zee, I'm glad that you get to go learn all kinds of neat things."

With a puzzled look on his face, Zee responded, "But, Momma, I don't learn things at school. I just play with alphabet puppets and go to recess."

Oh. Okay then.

I'm not surprised Zee isn't learning anything new at school. (And, to be honest, he actually is learning a few things, like the Pledge of Allegiance and how to write a lower-case "m".) But his teacher makes things fun, and he really does already know just about everything they are planning to teach him in kindergarten. (Everything academically, that is. Socially is probably a different story.)

He's related to me, that's for sure. When I was a kindergartener, apparently, I told my mother (after about a week of school) that I was bored, that I wasn't learning anything, and that I wasn't going to continue to go. (She told me I didn't have a choice.) So I'm just glad he thinks it is fun to go and play in school.

In the meantime, we do a lot of learning here at home. Zee knows all about craters and why Mercury and the Moon have them, and why the Earth doesn't have very many. ("The Earth got hit by a lot of asteroids, too, but lots of the craters are buried under stuff and moved around by glaciers!") He and Em "read" to each other and to the little ones, and they are constantly asking me "math" questions. ("Momma, what is two plus one trillion?")

Speaking of learning, Hebs is finally hitting some of long-delayed gross motor milestones. In other words, he finally hoisted himself into a sitting position while laying on his stomach. He gives "five", and he started clapping at the play on Saturday. Yay baby!