The things this kid knows

Tyler is wrapping up second grade. Fourteen days of school left. He started second grade not knowing a single kid in his class and now knows--and likes--most of them. He taught himself to write his name in cursive this year, but when we went to the third grade classrooms at Open House, he got anxiety seeing entire paragraphs written in cursive. "I can't do that," he exclaimed. I assured him he will be able to learn it by reflecting on the stuff he didn't know in the beginning of second grade. Not only did he learn multiplication, but also division and fractions. And this kid didn't just memorize the facts, he actually understands it. He mastered paper inventions blowing through no less than five reams of paper and ten rolls of Scotch tape and moved on to sewing with fabric, thread and needles. He was his teacher's first student to memorize the names of all 44 US presidents. He read the first Harry Potter book, the entire series of Diary of a Whimpy Kid, Calvin & Hobbes, and countless other books. He won his classroom's spelling bee and can spell words like intuition, perseverance and pterodactyl. This kid has mastered second grade and we are so very proud of him.