the frog was back in the box, and the lid was on it.”
“Well, that sounds like a bit of excitement, right?” Frank was amused.
“Then Mrs. Massa made Kevin put tape on the box so the frog wouldn’t get out again.”
“I assume there were holes in the box so the frog could breathe?”
“Oh, sure. He even had some grass stuff, but that got all over the floor. I guess the frog is gonna have to wait ’til it gets home before he can have a snack.”
Frank smiled. The wonder of childhood.
The walk home took less than ten minutes. Once they got inside, Jackson took off his backpack and pulled out his homework assignment.
“What are you working on today?” Frank asked.
“We’re studying the solar system.”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
“I guess. We have to draw a map.”
“Do you get to look at your book while you’re doing it?”
“Yeah. Mrs. Massa said we should try to draw the planets first, then close the book and try to remember the names.”
“But you could peek if you wanted to?” Frank wanted to learn how Jackson would react to being honorable.
“I guess. But I won’t. That wouldn’t be fair.” Jackson said this as if it were obvious. “Besides, we’re going to get a quiz on it Friday. So if anybody cheats on their homework, they might not pass the test.”
“Jackson, you are very astute.”
“What is a stute?”
Frank chuckled. “The word is ‘astute.’ It means smart.”
“Uh. OK. I guess we’ll find out when I take the test on Friday!”
“Well, get busy then. I’ll check your work after you’re done.”
“Okeydokey.” Jackson sat at the kitchen table, took a blank sheet of paper, opened his science book to the map of the solar system, and began to make circles. He stopped once he got to Mars and realized he was not going to have room on his paper for the rest of the planets. He scrapped the first attempt and started again.
Frank leaned over and turned the paper sideways. “That oughta give you more room for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto.”
Jackson looked up at Frank and nodded.
“Here’s a way to remember the names. M.V.E.M.J.S.U.N. M stands for Most. V stands for Valuable. E stands for Earth. M stands for My Name. J stands for Jackson. And the rest is easy. S.U.N.”
“Wow! How did you do that?” Jackson’s knee was bobbing.
“It’s called a mnemonic.”
“A what?”
Frank replied phonetically. “A neh monic.”
“Do I have to remember that, too?” Jackson made a face.
Frank chuckled. “No. But give it a try.”
Jackson looked down at the letters. “But what if I forget the letters?”
“You know all the names, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“OK. First thing you do is write down all the names. They don’t have to be in order. Then you take the first letter of each name and underline it,” Frank instructed. “Go ahead. Give it a try.”
Jackson got very serious and spoke as he wrote: “Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Earth, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, Uranus.” He looked up at Frank. “What about Pluto?”
“Is it still a planet?” Frank asked.
“They call it a dwarf planet.” Jackson was proud that he knew that tidbit.
“Well, then, it should be easy to remember him last. Like a period at the end of a sentence,” Frank said.
“What if I get Mars and Mercury mixed up?”
Frank hadn’t thought about that. “How about this. Earth is spelled ‘e, a, r, t, h.” What comes after the E in Earth?
“A.”
“Mercury starts with m, e. Mars starts with m, a. What comes after the E in earth?”
“An A.”
“Correct. So the planet that comes after earth, has an a.”
Jackson thought about all of this.
“Are you confused yet?” Frank half-teased him.
“Kinda.”
“Give it a try.”
Jackson thought really hard. He underlined the first letter of each planet. M is for Most. And it comes before Earth—E—so it can’t be Mars. Right?”
“Right.”
“V is for valuable. So it has to be Venus. Then Earth. Then Mars. Jackson, Jupiter!” He squealed with delight. “Saturn, Uranus, Neptune! And a period for Pluto!”
“Excellent! ”
“Wow. That was kinda hard. But I think I’ll remember them!” Jackson looked up at Frank, and they gave each other a high five. “How come you were never a teacher?”
“I taught other things.”
“In a classroom?”
“Sort of,” Frank explained. “I worked with men in the military, and I had to teach them tactical things. You play video games, right?”
“Only when my mom lets me.”
“Well, you know you have to develop skills to win, right?”
“Oh, sure.”
“That’s kind of the same thing. I taught soldiers how to win.”
“Cool.” Jackson took out a clean sheet of paper and