Thursday, December 23, 2010

Chalk Playing

I grew up in the era where chalk was the weapon of the teacher. No teacher was not equipped with a stick of chalk. I have even heard of flying chalks thrown by teachers to awake the daydreamers in the classrooms though none of it have happened to me in my convent school. But children these days have not heard of chalk. Teachers use whiteboard markers and IT peripheral to excite and engage the pupils.

When Phoebe and Reuben first saw the chalk in my friend's kiddy birthday party, they were intrigue by it. They drew pictures on the cemented ground. That was their first encouter of chalk. When I went to Ikea, I saw boxes of chalk being sold there, not expensive, about $1.50 for a box of 12 sticks. Surely I will not deprive my children of my childhood experience. I bought a box and they played with them on one of the saturday mornings, doodling on the common corridor. They had fun and Phoebe was surprised at how fast a stick of chalk got worn off. Actually, me too. I didn't know that chalk can get worn off so quickly. Of course, how would I know, right? When I started teaching, I was already using whiteboard markers and when I was a pupil myself, we wouldn't dare to touch the teachers' weapon. They were sacredly placed on the blackboard, not allowed to be touched unless the teacher enthroned it to you to inscribe your answers on the blackboard.

Anyway, back to now, after about half an hour of doodling, the children were dusty and perspiring. Off they went to have their shower while Mommy Me washed away the chalk traces with a bucket of water and a brush. Have fun - checked! :)

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