Avery, and the kids in his class, will learn about apples this week, as well as the letter A (upper and lower case versions). Activities to include apple tasting and graphing; estimating and counting apple seeds; creating apple pie recipes; making applesauce; and designing with apple prints.

Suggested Homework: Find things that begin with the letter A (upper and lower case versions) in magazines, newspapers, or clip art. Try to go apple picking.

Homework, the part of Avery’s education to which I’ve kind of most looked forward. Spelling lists, actually, in the stories I’ve told myself about helping Avery, but let’s start with pictures of things that begin with the letter A (upper and lower case versions).

While Aurora slept on Saturday, Avery and I searched for pictures for him to bring to school today. The search, ordered by his teacher, for those inclined to do some weekend homework in advance of the week’s lessons, which will focus on the letter A.

What we found (in issues of Life from the mid- to late- 1950s): An artichoke, and an apple, and animals (goats, really, but let’s go with the word animal), pictures of Australia and Antarctica. I wouldn’t let him use a picture of a car (automobile, really, but automobile isn’t a word Avery would use) and I wouldn’t let him use pictures of alcohol.

On several pages, he saw the letter A and pointed it to me, but the instructions were to bring in pictures, and not just bring in examples of the letter in situ.

Do you know what that says?, I said to Avery about one word.

He just looked at me.

Well, I added, you recognized the A.

Daddy, he said, I know the letters, but you know I don’t know how to read.