Been in the netherworld known as migraine for the last day or two-- and taking a quick break from work since I'm feeling a bit tired and disconnected. Yes-- I know, even more spaced than usual :-)

I've been meaning to post this for a while:

As many of you know, my mother is a first grade teacher. See "The Wonder Readers" link in the Beyond the Pale section of my blog. To reward the student who has worked the hardest and been the best behaved, Sparky (a stuffed dalmatian in fireman regalia) whispers into my mother's ear and tells her who he wants to go home with for the week. That child then brings Sparky back, tells the class what s/he did with Sparky and writes about it in their daily journal. Here's a wonderful story my mother sent me that I just had to post:

Last Wednesday Sparky couldn’t decide who to choose, until his glance fell on Edon, the sweetest, smallest, squeakiest, specialest child in the class. When Edon heard his name, he almost exploded to his feet with an enormous grin on his tiny face. After Sparky had made his choice, we remembered that Edon would be absent the next day for Yom Kippur, so I asked Edon to teach Sparky about how his family celebrates that holiday, and then to tell us about it on Friday.

When Edon returned, his brother brought him to the classroom door before class, and told me, “Sparky got something.” Edon pulled Sparky out of his bag, but instead of his fire hat, he was wearing a yarmulke!!! On Sparky, it covered his whole head and came down over his eyebrows, but still, it looked quite authentic. Edon and his brother were very proud.

When the class came in, they immediately noticed, and shrieked, “Sparky has a new hat! Sparky has a new hat!” When Edon told the class about Sparky’s adventures, he told about buckling Sparky in the seatbelt to go to Temple (they didn’t take him in) and that the ‘hat’ is called a “kipa” and is worn only by men or boys and is worn when praying. Then Edon told us that Sparky had learned a new word in Hebrew: “Shalom.” I asked him what it meant and he said, “Well… it means ‘hi.’” The children were totally fascinated and easily related to the unfamiliar religion. What an opportunity!

For what it's worth, this is just one of millions of examples of how public education is working despite the strident chorus claiming otherwise.