"You can kid the world. But not your sister." -Charlotte Gray
I have one sister who is two years older than me. We have gone through a pretty typical relationship that alternated between intense sibling rivalry and close friendship and support. When we were children, we played and fought as two girls who are fairly close in age will do. One thing we always did was play school. When my sister was old enough to be in school all day and I was lagging behind in preschool, my sister would spend our free time teaching me what she had learned in school. I was reading pretty well by the time I was 3 years old. Below is a dialogue that I wrote in remembrance of these very early memories. The memories are foggy but I believe the sentiment is there. I hold these memories very close to my heart; I have always believed that these early lessons instilled in me an early love of learning, but I am also beginning to see how they implanted a deep respect for the art of teaching.
“B-O-A-T, that spells boat! Now, you spell the rest of these words” Big Sister demanded.
“Ok…” Little Sister said, as she kicked her feet impatiently against the bed, ”If I do can I play with your Long Hair Barbie?”
“Maybe,” she said with a stern look, “but only if you get all the words right and only if you don’t mess up her hair. I’m going to say the words and you spell them back to me. Roof.”
“R-O-O-F”
“chair”
“C-H-A-R”
“Ok, try that one again, remember, sometimes letters are silent. Remember how to spell air?”
“A-I-R”
“Right!” She beamed, “now, try again.”
“C-H-…A-…I-R?”
“YES! Ok, now you have to sit over there and write ‘chair’ five times,” Big Sister ordered. “That’s what they do in school.”
“Why can’t I go to school?” Little Sister questioned as she rolled off the bed and plopped down on the chair next to the table Big Sister had set up with a paper and pencil.
“Because you’re too young,” she said shaking her head, “you can’t go to school until you’re older like me.”
Mother walked in as Little Sister set to work doing her ‘assignment’. Her small hand wrapped around the pencil and she pressed hard against the paper, the lead crumbling as she struggling to copy the precise hand writing of Big Sister, always so neat and so perfect. “What are you two doing?” Mother asked? “It’s a beautiful day you should be outside.” She drew open the curtain as if to prove to us the beauty of the day.
“But I’m teaching Little Sister what I learned in school this week,” Big Sister pleaded, “I’m going to teach her every day and when I grow up I’m going to be a teacher.
“Ok,” Mother chuckled, “but why don’t you do something else for a while, play with your dolls or color. Go outside, you’ve been in here all afternoon.”
“But Mom I like playing school! I want to go to school with Big Sister it’s not fair that I can’t go to school Bethany is teaching me, I can do what everyone else does… see!” Her pencil rolled to the floor as Little Sister proudly held up her childish scrawl and she beamed as Mother took it and smiled. “Well this is very impressive,” she said, “I can see you are a very good student who has a very good teacher.” Big Sister and Little Sister exchanged a look of pride.
Mother carefully placed the paper back on the table and stooped to pick up the pencil that had rolled to the side of the bed. “I guess I can’t tear you away from this in the middle of such an important assignment, but only 15 more minutes, and then I think it’s time for some cookies and recess,” she said with a wink as she turned to leave the room.
Big Sister moved closer so she could carefully watch Little Sister form each letter, quietly coaching and uttering words of encouragement through the process. Little Sister’s tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth and her fingers ached as she finished the last word. She grinned up at Big Sister as she took out her precious box of stickers. The good kind. “Princess or Stars?” she asked with a smile.
“B-O-A-T, that spells boat! Now, you spell the rest of these words” Big Sister demanded.
“Ok…” Little Sister said, as she kicked her feet impatiently against the bed, ”If I do can I play with your Long Hair Barbie?”
“Maybe,” she said with a stern look, “but only if you get all the words right and only if you don’t mess up her hair. I’m going to say the words and you spell them back to me. Roof.”
“R-O-O-F”
“chair”
“C-H-A-R”
“Ok, try that one again, remember, sometimes letters are silent. Remember how to spell air?”
“A-I-R”
“Right!” She beamed, “now, try again.”
“C-H-…A-…I-R?”
“YES! Ok, now you have to sit over there and write ‘chair’ five times,” Big Sister ordered. “That’s what they do in school.”
“Why can’t I go to school?” Little Sister questioned as she rolled off the bed and plopped down on the chair next to the table Big Sister had set up with a paper and pencil.
“Because you’re too young,” she said shaking her head, “you can’t go to school until you’re older like me.”
Mother walked in as Little Sister set to work doing her ‘assignment’. Her small hand wrapped around the pencil and she pressed hard against the paper, the lead crumbling as she struggling to copy the precise hand writing of Big Sister, always so neat and so perfect. “What are you two doing?” Mother asked? “It’s a beautiful day you should be outside.” She drew open the curtain as if to prove to us the beauty of the day.
“But I’m teaching Little Sister what I learned in school this week,” Big Sister pleaded, “I’m going to teach her every day and when I grow up I’m going to be a teacher.
“Ok,” Mother chuckled, “but why don’t you do something else for a while, play with your dolls or color. Go outside, you’ve been in here all afternoon.”
“But Mom I like playing school! I want to go to school with Big Sister it’s not fair that I can’t go to school Bethany is teaching me, I can do what everyone else does… see!” Her pencil rolled to the floor as Little Sister proudly held up her childish scrawl and she beamed as Mother took it and smiled. “Well this is very impressive,” she said, “I can see you are a very good student who has a very good teacher.” Big Sister and Little Sister exchanged a look of pride.
Mother carefully placed the paper back on the table and stooped to pick up the pencil that had rolled to the side of the bed. “I guess I can’t tear you away from this in the middle of such an important assignment, but only 15 more minutes, and then I think it’s time for some cookies and recess,” she said with a wink as she turned to leave the room.
Big Sister moved closer so she could carefully watch Little Sister form each letter, quietly coaching and uttering words of encouragement through the process. Little Sister’s tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth and her fingers ached as she finished the last word. She grinned up at Big Sister as she took out her precious box of stickers. The good kind. “Princess or Stars?” she asked with a smile.