I am sure every parent has had the daily monosyllabic conversation with their child which usually goes something like, “How was your day sweetie?” “Good” “What did you do today?” “Nothing” “What did you learn today?” “Nothing” “”Do you have homework?” “Yeah”… Well not much detail provided about their day during that talk and they certainly make you feel like they do not want to continue the conversation. This was certainly not the way my son came home last week! He started by wildly waving at me from his dismissal line like he couldn’t wait to talk to me. Then came the giant hug and the beginning of a two-hour word for word description of a presentation he had at school. Schmitty The Weather Dog and her friends had come to Wenonah Elementary School and opened my son’s eyes to the exciting world of weather! Paul learned about the many forms weather can take from sunshine to fog. He learned that precipitation can be rain, snow, hail, or sleet. Paul knew that lightning and thunder usually came together but now he knew that lightning caused thunder.
This tiny dog and her human friends explained the concept of global warming, and the differences between tornadoes and hurricanes in such a creative way that my son was hooked on science! For days our entire family couldn’t stop singing the “Schmitty The Weather Dog” theme song. Yes, even my 18-year-old daughter was caught up in the Schmitty fever that swept thru our home. Paul even sat down with our dog Max and explained that he could be contributing more to the family since Schmitty was so well behaved and quite frankly so well dressed! We are working on Max but as for Paul whose birthday was coming very quickly all he wanted was the Schmitty The Weather Dog: Daydream book. What parent wouldn’t love that? He went to school like every other day and came home with a song in his heart, literally, and a passion for life and the weather that affects it. I couldn’t be more appreciative to Wenonah Elementary School for bringing in such an amazing presentation and I couldn’t be more appreciative to Schmitty The Weather Dog, Meteorologist Ron and Author Elly for brightening the lives of my children and having a positive and lasting impact on my son. Schmitty, you are number one in my book (don’t tell Max)!
Pamela Martinalbert-Bouton
Parent
Wenonah Elementary School
Lake Grove, NY.
