Come Again?

Here's a recent Plato-ism that I'd forgotten to publish:

To fully enjoy this story you must understand that I'm blown away by the public education that Plato is receiving. We chose the location of our home based heavily on the reviews of the local schools (there are about 10), and we chose a district that was consistently in the top 3. Are we glad we did!

The curriculum that Plato had in first grade was phenomenal. It's amazing how times have changed. I remember being bored out of my mind in first grade. I didn't like my teacher, and she treated me like, well, a first-grader. How dare she?! I didn't have homework until the fourth grade, at least not regularly. Plato has homework about 3 days a week, mostly math. Pardon me, "New Math." This is pretty advanced stuff for first graders if I do say so myself. Graphing, statistics, addition, subtraction, beginning multiplication/division, geometry, and even pre-algebra...I've seen examples of all this year. It made me nervous, actually. And I worried about the homework load. Still does, to be candid.

But it's amazing how much my little sponge of an almost-seven-year-old absorbed.

A few weeks back, Plato and Lulu went to church with my folks while JeepMan and I slept in. If you've been with me for a while you may recall my ambivalence on Catholicism and organized religion in general. That's not the point here, though.

The kids came home with candy bars, courtesy of the weekly post-mass fundraising efforts. They were quite excited.

I asked the kids if they got the big chocolate bars or the little ones.

"BIG, mommy!" Lulu squealed. "Weely, WEELY big!!... Can I hab it for bret-fust?"

No dear, you may not.

Plato was more contemplative. "Mom, they're not exactly big...they're kind of medium."

(The child is a fanatic about perfect descriptors. Where could he have possibly gotten that hang-up?) I asked if it was the big flat rectangle kind:

"Well, not exactly."

I couldn't picture any other kind. I said as much.

"I don't know mom. It's kind of a ... well...uhmmm... a trapezoidal prism."

Meh?

Then he showed it to me:

Well, so it is, Plato.

So. It. Is.

...................................................................

Just for grins, I took this quiz:

You're Catch-22!

by Joseph Heller

Incredibly witty and funny, you have a taste for irony in all that you
see. It seems that life has put you in perpetually untenable situations, and your sense
of humor is all that gets you through them. These experiences have also made you an
ardent pacifist, though you present your message with tongue sewn into cheek. You
could coin a phrase that replaces the word "paradox" for millions of people.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Too true. And weird.

Crap, now I have another book to add to my "Must Read" list.