When two plus one equals a negative

Dearest readers, some of you have asked how Nolan's math situation is now. Well, it's the same. After a tense three way meeting the long and short of it is this: they agree they needed a wider base to evaluate students; next year they will do better; Nolan has to stay in his current math or else the principal will be hammered by parents demanding their kids be moved, too.

It's not like my son is doomed from this decision, but it still bugs me. It bugs me because if you are an Aggressive Parent your child gets advanced, and if you are a Nice Parent Who Doesn't Want to Offend an Even Nicer Teacher who has Dedicated 16 Years to Public Education, your kid is in easy math. I could have pushed it, and I didn't. I don't know why. Maybe I am tired. Maybe I think he will turn out great even if third grade math is too easy. Maybe I doubted my judgment.

Nolan, I'm sorry.

How to Make a Tree Hugger

Ahhh ... brings back memories of the spotted owl controversies. Cue Archie Bunker: those were the days ....

I do not immediately agree that this state park needs more trees. Oh well, let's have a field trip and plant more! It's November and still sunny for heaven's sake!

Poetic

"Was it fecal borne?"

Me, baffled: "What?"

"Was it fecal borne? Through the mouth?"

Me: "What?? No!"

And so began my meeting with our principal after school today. With a start like that, things could only improve.

Sacagawea was a Superwoman

Above is a picture of a journal my daughter Suzanna made while her class was studying Lewis and Clark. At first glance I was confused with the drawing until she explained it was Sacagawea diving under water to successfully get a dropped compass.

See the men on the canoe ... do they even notice she is underwater, or do they blithely continue down the Columbia River? Hurry, Sacagawea, before the boat gets away! Hurry! Who else at age 16 will bear a child smack dab in the middle of the freezing winter? Who will cook? Who will negotiate with Native Americans? Who will find food? You must make the trip! Those men cannot do it without you!!!

The second picture is of the game board she and her table group made. Let's see if you know the answers to a few of their questions (Cue "Are You Smarter Than a Fourth Grader?" tune):

1. One woman, one baby, and how many men traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the Pacific Ocean?

2. What did Lewis and Clark make the Montana state flower as?

3. Which Indians were encountered at Fort Clatsop?

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answers below!

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1. 31 men made the trip 2. Lewis modestly named it "Lewisia Rediviva" 3. The Siletz Indians