Broccolisauri and Falafel Rappers

Lessons from preschool:

As I was trying to diffuse the tension between two 5 year-old boys arguing over dinosaur toys, I pulled on my educational-pants and tried to teach them a thing or two in the process. It went a little something like this: {lets call them John and Johnny}

{John} Teacher! Johnny won't share the T-rex toy!

{Me} Well, John, Why don't you play with one of the other dinosaurs?

{John} No! I don't like those!

**This is the part where I'm racking my brain about dinosaurs. Specifically honing in on Jurassic Park**

{Me} Look, here is a raptor! These are my favorite dinosaurs. Do you know why?

**Insert children's intrigue**

{Me} Because they are smart! The Tyrannosaurus Rex may be big and mean...

{Johnny interjects} AND he has big teeth!

{Me}... yep, they sure do. By the Velociraptor is smart. They have big brains! They have friends and work together. Did you ever see a group of T-rexes together?

{John} {Or the other one, I don't remember} No. Just the momma and the baby

{Me} So the Raptors are cool because they are smart and they have friends and work together

{John} Yeah! I like Falafel Rappers! They have big claws!

{Me} ... uh-huh (Crisis averted!)

Let's you and I review.

They potentially just learned the following things:

1. The name "velociraptor"

2. That they are social and co-operative creatures

3. T-Rex is a solitary creature, not social or co-operative

4. Moral lessons such as being big and strong isn't the most important thing

5. Being smart is cool

6. Working and playing together benefits everyone

But really all they heard was:

1. Falafel Rappers are cool. Big claws!

All-in-all: They just got schooled on dinos and didn't even know it. Did you notice that Velociraptor because Falafel Rapper? I think that is an improvement that the scientific community needs to recognize. Later, as I was essentially quizzing them on dinos, the brontosaurus became a broccolisaurus. I literally laughed out loud. I couldn't help myself. It was so cute.

Side note: I totally just got schooled, too, because I had no idea that "velociraptor" was one word. 

***

I was also impressed with a 3-year-old boy who apparently has an environmentally-conscious family because this went down:

We monitor the kids as they go potty and wash their hands because so many of them either sit and play in the water all day, or they try to get sly and just run water over them and not actually clean them with soap. In this case, a little girl was playing in the water. 

She was actually putting her hand around the faucet so that water was spraying all over the counter. 

I told her something along the lines of, "We don't play in the water when we wash our hands. See how much water was wasted on the counter?" 

...at which point the little boys behind her says, "Yeah, if you waste the water, the earth will die!" 

Again, I couldn't help but giggle and just say "That's right." What killed me was the way he said it so dramatically and bug-eyed. 

***

Oh and I unintentionally taught the 3-year-olds to say "Look at my sweet moves" when they dance. Kids really do repeat everything you say.

I hope to have an update about the rest of the week soon including another concert (crazy, right?) and antique store finds.

So stay tuned!
Haley