The Message Adventure

Sometimes a teaching opportunity arises when you least expect it.  I woke up on the weekend and looked out the window to find the words, "Happy Birthday Remy!" across the street in large, two-foot-high letters.   The signs were the kind you rent, letter by letter, to spell out a particular sentiment.  Maybe it's a retirement or a birthday or baby or wedding.   Companies have the letters with other shapes, such as balloons and party hats, to match the situation.   You sign up for the message to appear suddenly and then to be removed a few days later.   It's fun and reusable and our neighbor was having a birthday her parents wanted everyone around to know. 

I went up to my son's room and told him to please not say a single word to his sister about the sign.   I explained how what he could see in an instant and read through the second-floor window, would be something his sister would have to go and physically touch, letter by letter, to figure out.   He agreed to keep quiet so I went to get his sister. 

When I told her there was something interesting across the street she wanted to go right then.   I explained the bit about it being cold, wet, and her not being dressed.   She got dressed although declined a jacket—something she regretted three minutes later.   

I didn't tell her what the first one was at first and then I gave it away, saying it was a balloon.   I thought that might have given it away, but since she didn't know it was a message, she wasn't sure where things were going yet.   The letters were nice and blocky so after she got through H and A, I figured she'd have it for sure, but I think instead she was focusing on what the next letter was so hard that she wasn't looking back at the big picture. 

I noticed something: she wasn't thoroughly exploring the shape.   She wasn't tracing the shape completely around but skipping from place to place.   I don't know, but I think it made it harder to guess the letters.   She got them wrong multiple times until she realized what the words were.   Then she got to 'Remy' and was confused all over again.   Remy was never one of the children's sitters so my daughter didn't know her well. 

She got it though and then I let her feel the party hat and cake shapes.   There was a second row, I told her.   She went to the back and found them in reverse order.   She was very confused with the hashtag until I told her what it was.   It was one of those symbols she knows but doesn't know the shape for.   She was interested in finding out what it was shaped like for sighted people.   

Then she figured out that the next two shapes were 1 and 8 and said, "Remy's turning eighteen!"  She was very interested in the message adventure but by now was glad there was no more to discover.   I was glad to have a fun, unexpected way to give her something interesting to feel and figure out. 

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Lunch Making Expectation:  I told the children they could play until 7:45 and then they needed to stop and make their lunches for tomorrow.   This is new to my daughter, as she loved the cafeteria food for the first few years of school.   She's decided she's over it now, which means she gets to help make her lunch.   Since her brother has been making his lunch since he was in third grade, we told her she could make her lunch too.   She was fine doing so but asked for some help with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.   My son can make his own lunch, but commonly doesn't give himself enough food or a good balance of items.   My husband intervened and made sure they both would have a good lunch tomorrow.