March 20, 2023March 20, 2023 Counting to Twenty: Sophie’s Magical Adventure with the Wise Old Owl Once upon a time, in a far-off land, there was a little girl named Sophie who loved to count. She was always looking for new things to count, from the flowers in the garden to the stars in the sky. One day, Sophie was out playing in the woods when she came across a magical tree. The tree was unlike any she had ever seen before. It was tall and broad with leaves that shimmered like gold in the sunlight. And hanging from its branches were ten beautiful, sparkling jewels. Sophie was amazed by the tree and wanted to count the jewels, but as she began to count, she realized something strange. The jewels were numbered from 11 to 20! Sophie had never counted that high before, and she wasn’t quite sure what came after ten. Feeling a little lost, Sophie decided to ask her friend, the wise old owl. The owl was known to be very wise and always had an answer for Sophie’s questions. So she flew over to the owl’s tree and asked him, “Mr. Owl, what comes after ten?” The owl looked at Sophie with a wise expression and said, “Why, my dear, that would be eleven.” Sophie was fascinated and asked the owl to teach her more numbers. The owl agreed, and together they counted the jewels on the magical tree, from eleven all the way up to twenty. Sophie was delighted to learn these new numbers, and she thanked the wise old owl for his help. She then ran back to the magical tree and counted the jewels once again, feeling proud to know all the numbers from eleven to twenty. From that day on, Sophie continued to count everything she saw, from the flowers in the garden to the stars in the sky. And whenever she came across a number she didn’t know, she would remember the wise old owl’s lesson and count on, all the way up to twenty. Primary