Kid Logic
This American Life broadcast a piece last evening called Kid Logic about when kids make careful observations, but come to erroneous conclusions. It reminded me of a couple of moments working with kids in which I’ve caught a little glimpse of this wonderful phenomenon.
Deep water
I worked as a lifeguard at our local pool for several years, and sat in a lifeguard chair near the deep end above a sign that said, Deep Water, with an arrow pointing toward the diving boards. A little girl swam up under the chair and said, Excuse me, sir, how do you keep the deep water at that end of the pool?
Shoelace(s)
In one of my previous fourth grade classes there was a student who had a shoelace that he couldn’t tie because one end of it was too short. I loosened it for him and helped him pull the short end out a little bit further to make it easier for him to tie. In the middle of the operation he said, You mean it’s only one string?
The world is a mysterious place with many things to learn. We forget sometimes.
A. Mercer wrote,
Okay, so here is an interesting thing. I’m teaching 5th graders about the American Revolution, and no matter how many times I remind the African-American students that the British offered to free slaves who fought for them, they still prefer the Patriots. I think this shows the a way that some African-Americans conceptualize themselves as “American” more prominently than other identities (descended from slaves). Maybe they can’t conceptualize themselves as slaves? Maybe I’m reading too much into this?
Link | March 12th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Marco Polo wrote,
So what was your comeback to the little girl? “I use osmosis.” “It’s special ‘deep water’, very expensive. don’t mess with it.” “With great difficulty.” “It gets scattered all over the place during the day. We have to herd it back in when everyone’s gone home.”
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 3:33 am
Doug Noon wrote,
The standard response to all such questions is…We’re trained professionals. Then I say something about a special machine.
Link | March 13th, 2007 at 9:03 am