I go to a private Montessori school. It is
not preppy, and we don’t have uniforms
or grades. We just have to do everything
over again until we get it correct.
At home I make soap. I have made:
lavender, lemon, honey oatmeal, cinna-
mon, and peppermint. I love writing and
reading. I make hummingbird food, grow
tomatoes, like to bake, and grow lemon balm.
Moonlight
The Midwest
What do you do? Down to Earth
I attend a private school, and not everyone
there is rich. (I’m not.) Many private schools have
scholarships. I went to a Montessori school, and
it’s my theory that is why I like to learn. They don’t
have grading, you can learn what you want at
your own pace as long as you do the few required
lessons, and it’s less structured so you basically get
to hang out with your friends all day, even when
you’re working. You also have more hands-on
lessons, which helps you understand and remem-
ber things better. Our classes were multi-age
groups, so there were more opportunities to make
friends across ages. We also only had about three
homework assignments a month, which gave us
time to do what we wanted at home.
CignusMoon, age 157 moons
Three Questions, Down to Earth
I went to Norway for most of my summer, and
at one point we went to a cabin in the woods and
stayed there for a few days. It was really fun ex-
ploring, swimming in the f jord, and going no-tech.
I’m going to write a few things about public
school. The biggest overreaching feeling is the sense
of having a class. It’s not like a team, but it’s like
people who all know each other, banter, die in the
period before lunch, and complain to each other,
laugh when someone says something funny... it’s
great. Classes have their own inside jokes, legends,
style....
I have three different class groups, f ive differ-
ent teachers, and six periods plus lunch. We have
one of our electives f irst at 8:45, but everyone
comes at 8:35 to: 1. Eat the school breakfast. 2.
Complain about the school breakfast. (Everything
comes from a packet.) 3. Lean against a wall and
talk while waiting for f irst period to start.
Everyoneswears the dance room is haunted.
Thelights keep f lashing on and
off,and a giant curtain rod fell
across half of the classroom.
Then in second period, sci-
ence, we do a lab every few
days and spend the time
leading up learning the
principle and the time after
analyzing our results. Third
period is social studies andfourthperiodEnglish,nowlunch.Re-
cessis optional.Fifthperiodmath,
sixthperiodmySTEMelective,and
thenI bikehomeupa steephill.
BlueMoon,age 11
What do you do?
Down to Earth
Homeschooling is pretty cool. I’m in high
school now and have more work than my siblings,
so my mom and I get up at seven in the morning
and work together on a textbook chapter and go
over the questions. Then I eat breakfast at like
eight and poof around until nine. Then everybody
works all morning. (Not serious at all; whenever
my mom goes to get something, there’s usually
yelling for the two minutes she’s gone.) Then
everybody eats lunch.
The afternoon varies a lot. After lunch we all
read books for what is supposed to be an hour—
on a normal day, anyway. On Tuesday we go to
a homeschool music thing from 12:30 to almost
5:00, which totally throws us off our normal
schedule. Sometimes we do history and science in
the afternoon, but we only need to do that two or
three days a week.
Alizarine
What do you do? Down to Earth
Hello, Everyone!
I’m Brendan, but usually go by the pseudonym
NatureWriter. I’ve read Cricket since 2008. I am an
absolute geek, extremely socially awkward, love
roleplaying games, video games, and (of course)
reading and writing. I have too many intereststo
list them all. I am in my junior year in high
school, but am not a good student be-
sides being pretty good at testing. I am
trying to get myself back into writing
again and hope to see you all around
the Chatterbox (though I’ll be spend-
ing most of my time on Inkwell).
NatureWriter, age 16
A Brief Introduction
Chirp at Cricket, Chatterbox
Bonjour!
Salut! I like climbing trees, doing art, baking,
being outside, and reading. My biggest passion
is aerial arts and circus. I also really like theater
and horseback riding. I am learning how to speak
French and I was wondering, can Pussywillow
speak French? I love Cricket and all its stories!
Raina Doughty, age 11
Skandia, Michigan
Bonjour, Raina,
Pussywillow does not speak French, but she
loves the sound of the language!
Love,
LadybugThisis a threaddedicatedtothosewho
inspireyou.Writea poem,writea letter,write
a sentence—write whatever you have in your
hearts that you’re grateful for. You can share your
inspiring people in real life, your inspiring Chatter-
boxers, or maybe just someone awesome you saw
on the news. Share away!
Lovely
Who inspires you? Down to Earth
Just about everyone on the Inkwell has a
character in an RP, a story, or Ski Lodge. But some
of you don’t seem to know your own character as
well as a reader would want. I want you to use this
thread to write about your characters in their daily
lives, just to get to know them better.
Glam Panda
Character Development, Inkwell
I do contra dance! It is a lot like square dancing.
Has anyone else done anything like it?
Silverwaxwing
Any Dancers? Down to Earth
This is a place for us to keep a huge, giant log
of books, both for ourselves and also so other
CBers can see what we’re reading. Every time you
f inish a book, put its name and author here.
Owlgirl, age 13
Texas, The Ultimate CB Book Log
Blab About Books
Someone says a quote from a book,
and we have to guess which book it’s
from. Whoever guesses it correctly
gets to post the next quote.
Twirlgirl, age 13
My Imaginary Dance Studio
Guess This Quote!
Blab About Books
I had a weird dream once that in-
volved a magic tree, the tragic death of
anorange plastic cube, a bunch of Knights
of the Old Republic trading cards, and a random
apartment complex with black-and-white walls.
Agent Winter
Dream Thread, Chirp at CricketSend letters to Cricket’s Letterbox,
P.O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354, or email us at
[email protected].
Letters may be edited for length.
Visit the Chatterbox at:
cricketmagkids.com/chatterboxCHIRPS FROM CRICKET’S
LETTERBOX AND CHATTERBOXYOU MAKE
HUMMINGBIRD
FOOD? SWEET!LEARNING
AS A TEAM
SPORT—WHAT
A GREATIDEA!
WRITING IS A
GOOD THING TO
GETBACKINTO.
LETTHESTORIES
FLOW!FLOW!