Shredded Cocos Nucifera

The other day Olivia walked in the door after school and announced with such conviction in her voice, "I'm so done with Mrs. Redfoot!" "Ah," I replied, "then it's a good thing that you only have five more days with Mrs. Redfoot." "But Mom, what if I don't like my second grade teacher?" "Olivia, it's impossible not to like your second grade teacher..."

I then proceeded to share with her that even though she's loved Mrs. Redfoot as her Kindergarten AND First Grade teacher, second grade is going to be an even bigger adventure! Her school 'loops'. For the first two years - same teacher - same students - trying to give them some stability I guess. It works for most of the children and has worked well for Olivia up until this last month when she's just decided that she's "done."

After reading Margie's post it reminded me of what a friend recently shared with me. Studies are showing that it's not the "nurturing years" (from birth to age five) that shape our personality so much as it is age 7-9 (what would be 2nd grade.) Apparently, what happens in our lives at that age rather than the earlier years is far more important in helping to determine what kind a person we will be.

Interestingly, I've heard many people remark how memorable 2nd grade was to them. Margie, for one, shares of her beloved Mrs. Bacile. And I fondly remember Mrs. Levine - one of my favorite teachers - hands down.

Mrs. Levine brought in a REAL coconut in the BIG, outer shell and drilled a hole and poured out the milk so we could all taste its fabulous sweetness. (not so good - but different and interesting none-the-less.) All the while teaching us such interesting facts as how a coconut is also known by its scientific name: Cocos Nucifera. Wow! Until then, I had no idea that things had scientific names! Then she cracked it open and we all tried the coconut meat. That whole thing fascinated me since prior to that I only remembered seeing coconut shredded and in a plastic bag.

To this day, I love coconut. I thought of Mrs. Levine fondly while in the Dominican Republic several years ago on a missions trip. One of the men living next door to the school where I was painting, one afternoon climbed a palm tree in his bare feet and cut down a coconut with his machete for us to enjoy. And years prior, in college, I obtained a coconut from somewhere and mailed it to someone - no box - just a coconut - with an address written on the outer shell with a Sharpie Marker - and some taped on stamps - just for fun. I used to mail all types of strange things...and then there was the time that I received a package of DEAD FISH..(you'll have to ask Char about that!!)...but...I digress...

Of course, it wasn't just the coconut that endeared me to Mrs. Levine. She was fun, full of wisdom and interesting facts and able to keep Richard Ambrosia from flicking boogers on everyone! In my book - she was tops!

I've explained to Olivia that second grade is going to be one of the best years of her school life. She'll have a new classroom filled with some new friends and perhaps some old friends and most importantly, she'll start fresh with a new teacher! Someone who will take her on a great learning adventure and share with her all their knowledge and wisdom and probably will also have the superpower of stopping booger-flicking! Second grade is gong to be grand! And we've got the whole summer to get excited about how wonderful it's going to be!

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Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
-Deuteronomy 32:2

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