Two days out of the week, Tacki's mom volunteers in her friend's kindergarten classroom to help with various classroom things. Usually she brings her little boy, Tacki along. Most of the time he is quite well behaved and loves pretending to be a big boy like the rest of the kindergartners. He also loves the attention the kinders give to him when he enters and leaves the room for the day.
Today was extra fun, because Sarah got all of her work done early and the teacher said she could play with Tacki until it was time for snack. Sarah knew exactly what her and the little hatchling would be doing. The helpful kitten grabbed a writing practice whiteboard and the box of dry-erase markers and lead Tacki over to the 1st Grader desk in the back of the room by the cubbies.
Sarah showed the box of dry-erase markers and told the little hatchling to pick one. Of course, Tacki happily chose a bright red marker. Together, the two practiced their writing skills. Sarah was already a master of the alphabet and had some pretty nice handwriting for a kindergartner. Tacki, on the other hand, had never really tried writing before, and scribbled a bit when it was his turn, wondering why his writing didn't look like Sarah's. Before the young dragon could get frustrated, Sarah grabbed his writing hand with hers.
"It's okay!" soothed Sarah, "I didn't know any of my letters yet when I was your age."
Tacki blinked and teared up a bit. "I wanna wite like a big kid... not wike a baby..." he replied sulkily.
Sarah beamed. "Okay! You're a smart little hatchling! I'm gonna be your teacher for today. You're going to learn how to write like a big kid!"
"Weally?" The little dragon certainly liked the prospect of writing like a big kid. The confidence Sarah was exuding made him think that he actually could learn this super hard skill in no time!
"Hmm..." the plucky little kitten thought, "What should we have you write?"
Tacki just shrugged. "What do kindergarners wite?" He asked meekly.
"I know!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly. "Let's start with the basics. Let's write your name!"
Without waiting for a reply, the kitten grabbed Tacki's hand with her paw and started helping him write the letters. T... A... C... She paused briefly and remembered that there was supposed to be another consonant in Tacki's name... a K!
Meanwhile, Tacki's eyes went wide when he saw what his hand was doing with the marker (with just a little help from a big kid).
"I'm doing it. I'm witing!!!" The little dragon started giggling happily and wiggling his feet and tail in excitement. "Mommy wook!!!"
The two finished writing Tacki's name. The little dragon was so happy, he hugged his "teacher" tightly. Mrs. Kawabata (Tacki's mom) couldn't help but snap a few quick photos during this time. Tacki had been growing a lot academically ever since she started bringing him with her to school. With great, nice kids like Sarah, he was sure to be well prepared for when he finally gets to enroll in kindergarten for real.
"Okay Tacki!" Sarah chimed happily, "Now practice this a bunch more times until you get it down perfectly. Good job!"
The little dragon happily complied with Sarah. Although his next few attempts were a bit harder to read, thanks to the housecat, he was now writing what looked to be actual letters rather than just scribbles. The whiteboard and marker managed to keep the toddler entertained and learning for the rest of the day. Sarah also got named student of the the day in her classroom. Nothing shows mastery of a skill and the quality of kindness than passing on your learning to others!~
