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I have a question. Two questions, actually.
1. The other day, I watched Evangeline carefully set out two cups and a bowl, fill the bowl by trekking back and forth to the bathroom with the cups, and then spend a happy half an hour scooping water back into the cups and pouring from one cup to the other.
Now, I know that this is a fine learning activity. It builds fine motor skills (and some life skills as well), it teaches an intuitive grasp of measurement and basic physics, you learn a lot by pouring water back and forth. And so I let her do it. (She cleaned up afterwards, another learning activity.)
But the question is - I know how useful this is for her development, but how the heck does she know it? Who told her? Children the world over enjoy pouring water from one cup to another, but who the heck tells them it's a good idea? HOW DO THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD DO THIS?
2. Evangeline and I talk about nutrition sometimes when we eat our lunch. I've tried to impress upon her the simple rule that we should eat a variety of colors in our daily diet. (Natural colors, thanks!) This is a rule that's easy for even very young children to grasp, and you can express it in a fairly poetic way, too.
I know that a variety of foods is good for my body. Does the same hold true for the compost? Like, if I compost a little bit of mango and a bit of eggshells and a bit of coffee grounds and a bit of wilted lettuce, is it going to make richer dirt (and therefore healthier, more nutritious fruits and vegetables) than if my compost is made primarily of, say, orange and banana peels?
Now, I know that this is a fine learning activity. It builds fine motor skills (and some life skills as well), it teaches an intuitive grasp of measurement and basic physics, you learn a lot by pouring water back and forth. And so I let her do it. (She cleaned up afterwards, another learning activity.)
But the question is - I know how useful this is for her development, but how the heck does she know it? Who told her? Children the world over enjoy pouring water from one cup to another, but who the heck tells them it's a good idea? HOW DO THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD DO THIS?
2. Evangeline and I talk about nutrition sometimes when we eat our lunch. I've tried to impress upon her the simple rule that we should eat a variety of colors in our daily diet. (Natural colors, thanks!) This is a rule that's easy for even very young children to grasp, and you can express it in a fairly poetic way, too.
I know that a variety of foods is good for my body. Does the same hold true for the compost? Like, if I compost a little bit of mango and a bit of eggshells and a bit of coffee grounds and a bit of wilted lettuce, is it going to make richer dirt (and therefore healthier, more nutritious fruits and vegetables) than if my compost is made primarily of, say, orange and banana peels?
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However, one of my early pre-first grade schools had buckets of water and paintbrushes and we were allowed to "paint" the wooden playground equipment with them. I liked that, but I remember part of that was that the wood changes color when it's wet.
Also, looking back at that, I am somewhat amazed that we never threw buckets of water at each other. We always used that the way we were allowed to. It's one of the things I remember being very popular and thus in shorter supply at a school. The other thing (which may or may not have been the same school) were tricycles. We had a small number of them and everyone would race to try to get one. But it's not surprising that young kids like tricycles. I think most people assume young kids like vehicles they're allowed to drive.