Poem for the Beginning of the School Year

There’s no more avoiding or denying it. It’s back-to-school season. It is my sincere hope that everybody has the most amazing year ever and as you begin, I’d like to share with you a poem that I wrote last year after attending my son’s first grade poetry celebration.

As he plays, I watch.

He writes books with blurbs

And speech bubbles.

He scribbles song lyrics

And journals about his trip to the zoo.

He is a writer.

He asks to go to the library.

He seeks out books on bunnies

And runs to me when he learns

What they eat

And how long they live

And what we need to do to take care of them.

He is a reader.

He holds coins in his hands

And asks, “How much is this?”

And then counts

And adds

And figures it out for himself.

He is a mathematician.

He mixes chocolate

with water

and yogurt

and salt

and sugar

And says,

“I need to watch and see what happens.”

He waits

And observes

And makes notes.

He is a scientist.

He sits at the table and does his homework.

He’s in a hurry.

He wants to be done

But

He stops and asks,

Is this my best work?

He is a student.

He is a writer.

He is a reader.

He is a mathematician.

He is a scientist.

He is a student.

Why?

Because he has a teacher.

I hope you all have a fantastic year molding writers, readers, mathematicians, scientists, students, and most of all LEARNERS!