New Happenings

We are well on our way into this new school year. Lots of changes for us! We have done the proverbial "cut the apron strings" from private education. I guess it wasn't much of a choice since our old school moved even farther away, and I am not willing to make the daily 3.33333 hour compute. After last school year's trial run of homeschool for about 2 months, it was decided that Ben- despite being an excellent teacher and achieving great results- had to get back to his day job. The girls are all attending Reagan Academy in our little city of Springville. Total driving time there and back is 15-20 min.! Nostalgia for the 6 years of driving into North Orem every morning and afternoon? Uhhh- no! Although, Benny and I still drive into Orem every MWF for his preschool. This new school, Learning Dynamics is good, but admittedly we miss Challenger's preschool.

Nani is in 3rd grade and her teacher, Mrs. Lewis, is wonderful! To ensure for myself that she would be okay in this new environment, I'll be in her classroom a lot as room mother. Mia is in 7th grade and she's enjoying the newness of everything. Except for being thrown into advanced Orchestra. But, just as we expected, she has risen to the challenge. Jasmyne is in 8th grade and wishes more of her church friends also attended Reagan. She and Mia have orchestra together as well as their lunch time. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we have made the right decision.

Alright... for all you know-it-alls... or not. Here's a back-to-school quiz for ya. Listed below are several sentences. Decide which ones are grammatically correct in Standard American English. Post your answers in the comments section. At the end of the week I'll post the answer key, and the winner gets... drum roll... title of Grammarian Purist (boasting privileges and rights included).

1. Kathy and me arrived first.
   
2. I ain't seen 'em. Ain't is an informal contraction of am not, are not, and is not. It is not part of formal standard English.
   
3. Whom shall I say is calling? Who is used when it is the subject of the sentence like in this one; whom is used when it is the object of a verb or preposition.
   
4. It don't matter to me.
5. We been here a long time.
6. That man was kind to my sister and I. Hypercorrection of the the rule you and I.
   
7. Someone left their umbrella here. You may not end a sentence with a preposition.
   
8. We was right. Verbs must agree with their subject in person and number. Was should be were.
   
9. If the weather was warmer, we could have a picnic. The verb 'was' is in the subjunctive form in this hypothetical if-then statement and should be replaced by the verb were. For example, If I were you... instead of , If I was you...
   
10. They did it theirselves. Correct word for the dialect theirselves is themselves.
    
11. I'm right, aren't I?
12. That's me in the photograph.
    
13. Nobody gets nothing for free. You may not have two negatives in the same sentence.
    
14. She is smarter than him. After a copular verb use the nominative case. i.e. She is smarter than he.