Little bear is not modest

Little bear and I were in advanced negotiations about whether the homework he had been set was one particular set of instructions or another.  Anyone who has ever dealt with little bear knows how far, 'just do it!' gets you.  Okay, sometimes I do, 'just do it!' but I hold it in reserve for the big things, as it can be awkward enough with little bear.  I usually start with negotiation, move on to bribery and then consequences.  And actually he is pretty good.  However with the homework I think he was worried that the teacher might think he had done the wrong thing and I was trying to find the correct angle. 

'I can't do that part of the homework, it is only for Year Two.' Little bear said firmly.
'It will show the teacher how brilliant you are.' I said, thinking that appealing to an ego rarely goes wrong.
'I am brilliant.' Little bear admitted modestly as I nearly fell off the chair trying not to laugh. 'But I don't want to use up my brilliant.'

So I have spent some time explaining to little bear that being brilliant gets better with practice, and now I am going to consult with the teacher about the correct amount of homework.  Having to speak to the teacher and only on the second week!

Last year, in Reception, little bear was reading Year Two books and reads fluently.  I can't stop him reading out loud when he sees signs out (and wouldn't want to) and he read through the 'homework instructions for parents' with confidence, though he had a bit of a problem with 'suggestions'.  The homework little bear accepted as his lot and burden was to learn to spell 'on', 'to', 'go' and 'the'.  The homework stoutly rejected as beyond his remit and not in his job description was to write a sentence including each of the words. 

I suspect the homework this week is to sort out those who do homework from those who don't, and that more testing stuff will come later.  However little bear gets too far with charm, I want to try and encourage application as well. 

It is five weeks to the parents' evening.  It seems to be a long, long way away.