Is That Your FINAL Answer?

Helping Jakob with his kindergarten homework has definitely opened my eyes to how strange the English language is. And how things may seem to only have one answer, and yet can have several.

Example 1: The number one. Jakob had to write "one" in his homework. He wrote "won". I had to tell him that yes, that's how you spell it, but not for the number. When I spelled out "O-N-E", Jakob said, "But 'o' doesn't say 'wuh', 'w' does!" And don't even get me started on "eight".

Example 2: "of", said "uhv", not "off". What's up with that?

Example 3: A section of his homework deals with word families. They kind of stretch it for some of them. The paper was listing "-ag" words, like "bag". There was a picture of a witch: a hag. Who calls witches hags anymore?

Example 4: What rhymes with "fish"? A bowl or a hammer? (These are pictures, by the way.) Oh wait. A bowl is also a dish.

Example 5: There's a page that has pictures of things that begin with a letter, in this case "p". And there's always one that doesn't start with that letter, and the kids don't color that one. So on the page there was a policeman. Jakob didn't color him along with another picture that didn't start with "p", because he called him a "cop", which very obviously does not start with "p".

Example 6: A picture of a doctor with a dog that has its leg bandaged up. Underneath it has "_ e t", where you fill in the first letter. Well, is it asking about the doctor (the vet)? Or is it asking about the dog (the pet)? Either one would fit. Same with a picture of a taxi, with "c a _"; it's a car, but it's also a cab. Hmm.

Example 7: With opposites, a picture of a treasure chest. It says underneath, "It is not open. It's ______." So, is the opposite closed? Shut? Locked? Your guess is as good as mine.

Crazy homework aside, Jakob has continued to bud into quite the artist. Here's a picture of his new obsession, the Bionicle guys:


In this next one, the one on the left is a "to do" list for Pete that he made. Jakob must think that getting dressed ("git clothes") and enjoying life ("have a blast!") are top priority, along with working ("go work") and eating ("pizza" with backwards z's). On the right are, obviously, the Ghostbusters.


One of the boys' new favorite movies is "Horton Hears a Who!" Below is Horton, holding the clover that the speck lands on. The speck at the beginning of the movie floats by Horton and says "Help!"


And this is one of my favorite things Jakob has made. In school the kids were to trace their hands and glue them onto the reindeer head as antlers. Jakob, always thinking outside the box, did his whole arm for one side. Always an original thinker, that one. I was so sad because I thought I had lost it, but I found it! I couldn't fit the whole thing onto the scanner, but you get the idea.


I wonder if all my kids' homework will be this adventurous.