A lesson in child education.

   2 little Girls and a Curmudgeon.
   A lesson in child education.

    For the last few years my niece and nephew come to visit us around the holiday season, with their two little girls.  Three years ago, when they were about seven years old, we were looking for something to do, (when you are 80 you really have to use your wits to keep two little girls entertained) so I decided to show them my fountain pen collection.  It was not without some trepidation, as my collection ranges from the almost priceless to the almost worthless.  Anyway, under careful supervision, I showed them pens, old and new, colourful and variably shaped.  These girls are totally different in every way, so I was pleasantly surprised at the overwhelming enthusiasm both of them exhibited.
   "Can I write with them, can I  write with them, Uncle Stan?"  they both screamed pleadingly.
   Now, these are mostly old or vintage fountain pens with sharp nibs and multi - coloured inks in bottles, that must be sucked up into the pens, unlike the cartridges that are used today.  Still, we were down in our basement, so I decided that with careful supervision I could risk it.  After all, an ink-catastrophe can  usually be fixed if one make sure to use washable ink.
    So I searched about for two of my most valueless pens and a bottle of washable ink, got each girl a notebook and carefully monitoring the filling of the pens with ink, with their participation, sat them down at the desk, 'a l'ecole', and showed them how to write with a real live fountain-pen.  The were thrilled.  Their initial attempts, while not stellar, were surprisingly acceptable.
    Soon after they got home to  Montreal, I had a call from my niece telling me that the girls' enthusiasm for fountain pens was persisting and asking me for recommendations for reasonably priced and designed pens, preferably of the cartridge using type since she didn't think they were ready for bottles of ink just yet.

   The following year's visit was initiated by the girls requesting to see the fountain pens as soon as they burst through the door.  It wasn't long before they were demanding their writing lessons and I felt as though I was running a school in my basement.  I gave the girls a couple of nice colourful pens, with which they were delighted, and told them that they better practice because during the next visit there was going to be a test!

   This year, soon after arriving, they wanted to know when they were going to have to do 'the Test'!
"Well, " said I, " you are going to have to do some little practice exercises first."  I brought them down to the 'school-room' and gave them some of the old headline books aphorisms to transcribe, and found they were both writing block letters.  I was aware and horrified that some schools were no longer teaching cursive writing .I wrote out some cursive headlines for each of them.  One of the girls knew how to write cursively, but because of differences in their education for complex reasons I won't go into, the other didn't.  So I tailored her test accordingly (still cursively inclined).  After a period of practice, the girls wanted to know when their test would be held.  
   "Now,"  said I.  Great excitement ensued.  I administered the tests, collected them and graded them.
   "Did I pass? Did I pass?" both of them screamed.  Of course both of them passed!
   "Yes," I said, "you will both be getting your prizes before you go home!  Your certificates will arrive in the mail, but these things take a couple of weeks!"
    Now I'm trying to design appropriately impressive certificates!
    And that's how you educate children!