A New Total!

Well, here we are on the first day of the fourth week of the school year. As previously stated, the bread tabs have been flowing in from all directions. (Another little fellow, from grade 3, also brought in a huge amount of tabs for us.) With the help of kids who are willing to make stacks of ten and bags of 100 during read alouds, a very dedicated TA and a wonderful Oral Interpreter we finished counting the bookbags of bread tabs. That one little darling brought in 16 916 bread tabs. I was amazed that one group in my class had estimated the amount to be 16 242, and another group had estimated about 18 000. I have some pretty bright little kiddies in my room. I am also thrilled with the improvement I am noting in some of their abilities to add and subtract mentally. Math, math everywhere!

Our present total is...69 142! That is over twice what we collected throughout all of last year. Inconceivable! (My little homage to The Princess Bride) There is still my 2-litre ice cream container and four sandwich bags of bread tabs sitting on my desk awaiting tabulation.

I have to admit that I brought some home this weekend and counted out 4 000 between watching The Princess and the Frog and The Amazing Race.

This weekend, I went to the local farmers' market to stock up on some fresh fruit and veggies, and samosas, of course, and I ran into a high school friend. She recently moved back to the area. While living in Ontario, she sent me bread tabs via Canada Post. After exchanging a few words, she reached into her purse and pulled out a bag of bread tabs. I can only assume that she was carrying them around in case she ran into me. I love that gal!

This weekend, I'm going shopping for a see-through container that is big enough to hold 100 000. I think we're going to need it soon.