Encounters with Children part 2

Encounter 2

A teacher brought A and B to my office, saying that they had been fighting in sports or karate or something. A’s face was streaked with tears, and B had the same don’t care look he does a lot of the time, mixed with some faint embarrassment or hope or something.

I told them to sit in my cane chairs under the tree (…and cool off), and turned back to my work. 

After quite a long time, I gave them “Frog and Toad Together,” by Arnold Lobel, to read (together) on the takhat/bed/sofa. B held it mostly, towards himself, and A looked over his arm.

When they finished, I gave them paper and pencils and markers (I didn’t have any crayons) and told them to write book reports. They were very willing and eager. I left them for half an hour while I went to teach maths, making a mental note to keep crayons, some more storybooks, and maybe a puzzle or two in my office.

In the middle of my maths class, A came and asked me for more paper. I described my rough paper file to him.

When I got back, A had just finished and B was finishing up. I told A to wait for B. Both had written carefully, drawn a picture, written the date, and signed with a flourish. A wrote a more succinct report, with a paragraph about what he thought. B described the story in more  detail, step by step, and ending with a (succinct), “It was a thoughtful story. I liked it very much.”

I thanked them for their nice book reports and pinned them to my softboard. Then they went off, together, frog and toad.