Journalling

A few weeks ago, Opal brought home her work for the past year. She is in general proud of it, and it's fun to see how her work changes over the course of the year in most subjects. But my favorite is her journal. Every day there was a journal question; on Monday it was always "What did you do over the weekend?" and on Friday (when it did not go in the journal) it was "What was your favorite thing this week?" In between it varied, although there's a strong tendency to ask about favorites. Each page has a space for a picture and some writing.

The pages do not have the questions; this makes the beginning of the year, when she often gave bare answers, rather challenging to make out.

09/16/09 "MYFAVoritEMAMMALiSACHEEtAH"

09/10/09 "IliKE THE PLAYGROUND"

09/24/09 "Mozart is playing violiN."

10/06/09 "Iwouldliketoownacat ."

10/08/09 "I LOVEAustralia"

10/14/09 "A FamLe of ciNcille" ("A family of chinchillas" and no, I don't know what that's the answer to.)

10/21/09 "iliketoetheArginteninBred" ("I like to eat the Argentinian bread", and no, I don't know what Argentinian bread.)

10/27/09 "i love thispikthur bukwzitha za womin" ("I love this picture, because it has a woman." This sentence is accompanied by a picture of a woman, but probably refers to somebody else's picture.)

11/11/09 "this is apgmy marmoset it isthe smallest monkey in t he world. This monkey isfondintheAmazon Rainforest."

11/13/09 crossed out, followed by 2009-11-13 "my Dad" (Again, your guess is as good as mine as to the question)

11/17/09 "Bruegel liks to pAnt he liks to pantlanskaps." ("Breughel likes to paint. He likes to paint landscapes.")

11/17/09 crossed out, followed by 2009-11-19 and 11/19/09 "red pink gren bronprplblak" (This is probably the answer to "What is your favorite color?")

2009-12-01 "i love to se flwers gro."

12/30/09 "The latebugs have No BakboNs the latebugs ar invertebratets"

2009-12-07 "i want to a fanse denr and ilikd denr and i love it." ("I went to a fancy dinner and I liked dinner and I love it")

12/09/09 "lokwaryou Ar goin so you dont folin a howl ." ("Look where you are going so you don't fall in a hole.")

12/23/09 "I loved to play with the papr Ball and i love toplay with toys."

01/06/10 "I rile want to see ashrk" ("I really want to see a shark", which would be a question about what she wanted to do at the Monterey Aquarium).

01/21/10 "panuma is a land cnecdid to two pisis of land"

01/28/10 "I love the poison-dart frog."

02/02/10 "Iam gong tolokk vare olld." ("I am going to look very old", perhaps a question about what she will do when she is older?)

02/04/10 "I love tomak valintins cad's for May reltf's" ("I love to make Valentine's cards for my relatives.")

02/17/10 "Johannes wasaflute palyr and He wontid to pay the piano and His father sed piano's are for rich people and tatment tat ment tat He didint want Hem to play the flute" (Brahms, perhaps?)

02/10/10 "I love to snugl up weth MoM and anmls"

(undated) "I love pudl's and cwawas" ("I love poodles and chihuahuas", but I know this from the picture.)

03/02/10 "I love frederick's first concert it was in February24 1818 the Most important peoel in warsaw cam at that time a Grand Duke ruled over poland He was Bad-tempered."

03/03/10 "I like papawa niugine war my grandparens live and i love thum."

03/04/10 "I love the thort taild cincilu of South America (animall)"

03/09/10 "I love tow Bukus It is even." ("I love two, because it is even")

03/15/10 "I love pie day and weeding"

03/16/10 "My favorite planet is ploto." (Uh-oh.)

03/24/10 "My favrit book is aceko 8 spuklr Booke" ("My favorite book is Akiko & Spuckler book" )

04/??/10 "wen i came to scoole on my frist day i wontid to stay with My MoM becase i wa's shy toBe in scoole"

04/15/10 "I like ale the letter, bukus theare26 letter" (Take that, asking for favorites!)

04/29/10 "My favoite thinge todo on a tripe Is ate Is creme wale My MoM swims"

05/??/10 "I like tims. Bkus: it is fun and it maks you smart and i am good at it."

05/06/10 "I like it wen henry matisse isint Bord enimore"

05/07/10 "I am loking forword to onigiri." ("I am looking forward to onigiri." She likes rice balls.)

05/??/10 "I like sharks and sting rays Bkuse sharks have sharp teth and sting rays sting."

05/13/10 "My favorite flowers are jasman, rosis, tulips and sunflowres. I like thum Bkuse thay smele good and lookgood. I love thum."

2010-06-03 "If a Alien spacecraft landed in myback yrde I wode tel My MoM that we have a Alien space craft in are backyrd because I wode Be scard."

2010-06-08 "Wen i grow up i wont to be a teacheralibrarian a inventor and a Veterinarian."

2010-06-14 "If I found gold in my backyard I would show my mom and say theres gold in our backyard mom!"

2010-06-15 "My favorite bug is a butterfly because it is beautiful and I like how theay fly ."

2010-06-21 "On the week end I went to a picasso play. It's about two people want to marry a girl. The second man has to marry another girl who wasthe princess of Japan. I stayed awake for the whole play." (I think she asked for spelling help and the teacher was stumped.)

06-24-10 "My favorite reptile is a chameleon. because you can'tsee them."

06-28-10 "On the wekend I painted my room. my dad helped bydoing the corners and I did the walls I used the roller and he usedthe brush and a corner thing wich I forgot the name of."

07-01-10 "My favorite words are supercalafragulisticxpealadoshis and unucorn."

07-06-10 "On my weekend I made cucumber saled for my ante and my uncle. me and my mom made it out of cucumbers, cumin, yogert and salt."

07-19-10 "I told my mom a recipe on the weekend. he reis how you make it. You cut tomatoes in half, youcut a big or three small picklesin slices get cheese and olives bread, and butter."

07-27-10 "Once in Japan wich is in Asia there was a farmof oysters which made pearls andthey live in clean water."

8/4/10 "I am afraid of scary movies rolar costers monsters and haunted houses."

08/5/10 "The biggest animal is the African Elephant. If the African Elephant comes after you to cath you, run and climb upa wall and jump down to the other side."

08-10-10 "My favorite spider is the bird eting spder. because thay can suk blood from birds."