8.21.2014

#iwasright

I find myself saying I don't know a lot.  Tucker asks questions all the live long day, and I don't know the answers to most of them.  He is brilliant at math and science, everything I am not.

Mom, there's a walking stick insect that slingshots its eggs like twenty feet away.  Who takes care of those little walking sticks when they hatch?  Does the mom know where she shoots them?

How did the earth get here?

When I do feel comfortable trying to offer an explanation, I sense that it's hard for him to hear me because he is using his whole brain to think about the next thing.

Who made the pattern of school, five days there and two days home, five and two, five and two?

Isn't magic kind of like science, except magic stuff just hasn't been explained yet?

I learned, teaching, that one of the best ways to respond to a child's inquisitiveness is with the words Let's find out.  It's like a three syllable compass, that phrase.  If I can just get Tuck pointed in the right direction, he's satisfied.

You know how the wood frog can be frozen and thawed?  Can they do that with other animals?

Why doesn't Braxton just throw with his other arm?

He gives voice to thoughtful wonderings and I find myself saying I don't know and Let's find out.
What I did know, though, was that he would like school.  I was right.

6 comments:

Poppy John said...

Jenni Baby,

I think you need to call Braxton and tell him about the other arm thing. Bright kid...I never thought of that. Maybe coach could find a "big" walking stick mom (?)

L2A

P.S. Start saving for college.

rht said...

"What good are questions without answers, answers without questions? The needle in my haystack is the needle that's in question -- it's never found the stitches, but it keeps it all together...."

Think I should tell Mrs. Teach about Joe Wayman? ; )

The Wendels said...

Love those shoelaces!

Andy and Jenni said...

Mary, me too! The cord broke, though, after just a few times worn. Timberland service said they'd eval them for defect, and send us a replacement. But the waiting - and the tying - in the interim might put us all over the edge ;)

Linda K. said...

We all knew from Tuck and your posts that he would love school. But I also feel compelled to point out that YOU were a talented science teacher! I always wished I could stay for hours in your classroom, watching you and your students learn about science. :)

rht said...

Thank you, Linda K! It was truly a delight for me, as a retired teacher, to watch my daughter teach circles around me in the wonderful school you led.