The Times They Are A Changin'

Things have changed since I was in school. The reading material is far different... and the Math... wow.

Son#1 is a voracious reader. He has a book with him everywhere he goes. Unfortunately, we have been stuck on Harry Potter since 2nd grade. I finally put my foot down last month and said we have to find new reading material. Luckily another boy in his class turned him onto the Lemony Snicket Series. So far there are something like 11 or 12 books in that series, so it should keep us busy. I'm not thrilled its below is reading level, but hey, he's reading something other than Harry Potter, so that is great strides.

Today he was thrilled. His teacher let him borrow a book from her class. Thrilled isn't really the correct word. Ecstatic works. Mental cartwheels is good. It is called... yes, I am serious... The Day My Butt Went Psycho. And here is a synopsis for your reading pleasure:

Zack Freeman is ready to tell his story... the story of a brave young boy and his crazy runaway butt. The story of a crack butt-fighting unit called the B-team, a legendary Butt Hunter's formidable daughter, and some of the ugliest and meanest butts to ever roam the face of the earth. A story of endurance that takes Zack on an epic journey across the Great Windy Desert, through the Brown Forest, and over the Sea of Butts before descending into the heart of an explosive buttcano to confront the biggest, ugliest, meanest butt of them all! It's a story you and your butt will never forget!

And Thank The Boy Butt Gods of the Universe that there is this:

"Just when you thought it was safe . . .the butts are back."Andy Griffiths' sequel to The Day My Butt Went Psycho! is called Zombie Butts From Uranus.

I'm stunned by the things we will do to get our kids to read. Butts. It must not just be my boys that think they are funny. This must be an all over the world phenomonen. Incredible. And the best part? He's writing a book report. I can't wait to hear this one.

When he started his homework, he had some questions with his math, a first. He brings it over to me, just to clarify. Holy Crap Lion Tours! My 4th grader is doing ALGEBRA! Whaaa? No kidding, this is one of the questions:

Solve the following problem: 25-(8+4)

Oh then they were doing things like, solve the problem with y=12. y+3=?.

Now he did not have one problem with any of this. His problem was, "how do you write an expression?" The rest was cake for him. And I also realize, this is not hard stuff, but the concepts, already? Don't get me wrong, I am a very happy Mom, but wow.

Am I the only one who did not have this in 4th grade? We had massive amounts of long division. Pages and pages. Roman Numerals. A lot of long multiplication. Over and over. Wow. I feel old.