Chloe and the Silent H

"Class, we're going to go back to the tables for an activity. I put the name cards out so look for your name, " Mrs. Potts said.

I hopped up from the rug and thought about finding the spot for my backpack. But my tummy still rumbled with those rocks.

My new friend, Katie, waved her hands over her head. "Chloe, I think you're here at my table."

Mrs. Potts had put my name card across from Katie's at a round table. I sat down and studied the sheet in front of me. Digging into my backpack, I pulled out crayons, scissors, and stick glue. Coloring, cutting, and gluing were my favorites. I would do an especially good job and show Mrs. Potts what a good student she had gotten.

The boy on my right side nudged my arm. I knew it was my right side because I was using that hand to color and he almost made me go outside the lines.

I stopped my masterpiece and looked at him. "Please stay on your side. I'm trying to do my best work."

The boy with the black hair tilted his head and stared at me. "That your name?" He pointed to my name card.

"Of course. Chloe Ann Parker."

"Mrs. Potts just taught us about the CH sound. It says 'ch' like choo choo."

"Yes, I know about that."

"Well then why isn't your name chu - loee?"

This boy didn't know as much about letters as I did. "My teacher, Mrs. Johnson, taught me that there are silent letters. The H in my name is a silent letter."

"That's silly."

I scrunched up my face and propped my fists on my hips. "Excuse me?" I glanced at his name card. "So what's your name?"

"Bobby."

"You mean bah - buh buh - ee?"

"What?" Bobby's eyes got real big.

I pointed to his name card. "See? There's two B's together." I grinned my biggest grin. "Obviously, you have a silent letter in your name too."

Bobby made a low growling sound in his throat and rolled his eyes.

Too bad for Bobby that I was smarter about letters than he was. But ever since our neighbor at our old house would come home from Kindergarten and tell me what she had learned that day, I wondered if I really needed Kindergarten anyway. I knew all that stuff.

Daddy always said, "There's always something we can learn, Chloe Ann."

Maybe moving to a new school in the middle of the year wasn't too bad an idea after all. Mrs. Potts just might have something I could learn, and Bobby could definitely use my help.


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Chloe likes coloring, cutting, and gluing. What is your favorite? Why?

Chloe wants to do her best job for her teacher. Why do you think she wants to do an especially good job for Mrs. Potts? Do you try to do your best when you color, cut, and paste or do any kind of work at school? Why?

Chloe's daddy tells her that there is always something we can learn. We can learn from our parents, teachers, and friends. We can learn things from books we read and shows we might watch on TV. What is something you have learned today? Think hard.

Be on the look-out everyday for what you can learn that day. Make a list of things you would like to learn about. Ask your parents or teacher to help you find a book on one of your topics.