Scholars at Work

It was a tough morning in kindergarten.

After all the effort it took to cut out that ear, the glue stick wouldn't let go.

Every station had a challenge.... like scissors.

Some of the friends in the classroom had the skill down pat.

They knew how to hold the paper 

and turn the paper  

although some had to stand to do so. 

Make no mistake,

this was serious business. 

The story featured a mouse

and cutting the M was the straight part of the task. 

It was those pesky eyeballs and noses and ears, all those round shapes, that gave us the most trouble.

I'd never considered the pedagogy behind this kind of exercise, but watching the scholars zip through some pieces and struggle with others gave me time to ponder.

"Thumbs up" was the most frequent reminder needed.

Some of the kids just didn't have the coordination yet.

Neither did Big Cuter, who failed scissors in Senior Kindergarten, 

and who, as I went on to tell the strugglers, is now a lawyer.

The glue stick was also an issue.

It really liked the taste or the texture or the personality of the paper because it often refused to let go.

One of the scholars thought he'd try the up-in-the-air approach.

We had fun describing adhesion and friction and the need for a solid base - for glue and for life.

Then there was coloring

leaving no white spaces because in this room we color the whole picture.

Finally, there was showing off the finished product. 

This teacher is creating Americans, one letter of the alphabet at a time.