Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) by Diane Greenwood Muir Page B

sometimes she makes me redo problems if I mess them up."
    "Why?"
    "Because I'm learning, I guess." Rebecca didn't sound too confident of her reason.
    "Because learning is more than just getting a grade," Polly said. "Learning is about the whole process. Let me see your sheet, Rebecca. Yours too, Andrew."
    Both kids handed her their work. As far as Polly could tell, Rebecca's was pretty much right. She put Andrew's back in front of him and pointed at number six. "Are you sure about that answer? Check your subtraction."
    He peered at his answer and then looked up at Polly. "Thank you. I'd have gotten it wrong."
    Kayla's eyes bounced back and forth between the two kids and then she timidly held her paper up. "What about mine?"
    Two of her answers had errors in the calculations and Polly put the sheet back down in front of her. "You need to look at your answers for number two and number ten. The others look good." The timer on the oven rang and Polly said, "Rebecca, do you want to get the brownies or help Kayla with her work?"
    "I'll get the brownies."
    "Hot pads. Don't forget the hot pads."
    Rebecca slipped out of her seat and Polly took it and sat down. She leaned back and grabbed a notepad from the corner of the counter behind her.
    "Let's work through these numbers and see if you come up with a better answer," Polly said. She turned back around. "Just put that on the cooling rack for a few minutes. I'll cut it."
    "Okay," Rebecca said.
    Kayla had taken the notepad and was reworking problem number two. Polly saw her eyes light up and she worked through it to the right answer.
    "Good," Polly said. "Now try number ten again, using the information you just learned."
    "That was easy," Kayla said when she finished the second problem.
    "Sometimes you just have to slow down and think it all through. We have plenty of time, so why don't you three take a break. Andrew, do you want to put Star Wars in and I'll bring brownies over? You can watch it for half an hour and then come back and write your poems."
    He ran across the room to queue up the movie and dropped into the chair beside the sofa. Obiwan jumped up to join him.
    "Come on," he called as familiar music played into the room. "This is the best movie!"
    Kayla followed Rebecca and the two girls curled up on the couch. Rebecca took a blanket off the back and threw it over their laps.
    "Hit play," she said. "We're ready."
    Polly cut brownies and poured milk, then took the treats into the living room and waited until the opening scroll had finished before passing them out.
    "This is in space?" Kayla asked.
    "Yes, it's awesome!" Andrew declared. "Just watch."
    "It's my favorite movie in the world," Polly whispered. "I make him watch it all the time."
    "It's my favorite too," he agreed. "But there are six of them and they're all good."
    Polly rolled her eyes. Thank goodness he was young enough to appreciate the movies, no matter what. She had decided that complaining about Jar Jar Binks was not necessary around the kids. They didn't know they were supposed to hate the character.
    "You should see her office," Rebecca said. "She has Star Wars everywhere."
    Kayla nodded, caught up in the plot. When the image of Leia was projected from R2D2 and said, "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope," Kayla's eyes jumped to the dog. The image repeated the phrase and Kayla pointed to the dog.
    "Polly is Star Wars crazy," Andrew said. "Keep watching. This is a good part." He directed her eyes back to the screen.
    Polly interrupted them after the half hour was up and though there was moaning and complaining, she insisted, and they settled back in to work on their poems. She went into the living room while they worked and opened her laptop. There were so many things spinning in her mind that she wanted to get them into her notes program while they were still fresh.
    Ideas about the new bakery and the possibility of an afterschool kids club at Sycamore House gave her lots to think about. The most