Quinn watches a lot of TV – enough that I know many parents
would have something to say about it. But I’m okay with it because a certain
program on PBS has turned my three year-old into a science whiz. So pay
attention, Judgey McJudgerson!
Quinn used to watch some shows that drove me crazy. (I can’t
tell you how happy I am that he’s finally over Team Umi Zoomi. As much as I love that it taught him a ton about
numbers, shapes and patterns, that show quickly became awfully annoying.) But
these days, Q is all about Sid theScience Kid on PBS, and Hubs and I couldn’t be happier.
Q’s been obsessed with this show for over six months. It’s
literally all he watches now. Occasionally,
I try to suggest something else, but he never goes for it. “I want to watch
Sid,” he says. Every time. Quinn
doesn’t just repeat what he hears on Sid.
He actually applies the lessons to his own environment and reenacts the
experiments.
To review, my son just
turned three. And he’s been saying this stuff for at least six months. Here
are just a few ways Q has blown me away with everything he has learned from Sid. We'll start with a super cool one.
Because inertia.
Quinn totally gets inertia. Don’t believe me? Watch this 30-second video?
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Never mind all the gross coughing, almost tripping over his own
two feet, and the helmet with the farting/burping monsters. My kid is brilliant!!
FYI, I can’t even spell “inertia” apparently. Spell check
had to correct me every time. Der.
There are how many
simple machines?
Sid has a whole
series of episodes on simple machines. One night as Q and I were telling
bedtime stories, he made an astute observation. “Mommy, your leg shadow makes
an incline plane on my wall.”
Huh?
Yep, I was lying on my side on his bed, and the night light
casted a shadow of my body on the wall. The slope of my leg from ankle to hip made an incline plane. In my speechless state, I racked my brain to remember
all six simple machines, but I could only think of four. (Although I’m quite
proud of myself for even knowing there are six of them. And to save you the
Google search, they are: incline plane, lever, wheel and axel, pulley, wedge
and screw. You’re welcome.)
That’s the way the
ball bounces.
“Mom, my soccer ball bounces higher than this hard ball
because it has more elasticity.”
And he pronounced “elasticity” correctly.
*drops mic*
Friction. And not the
awkward kind.
“Mom, I can’t slide in my shoes on the carpet because of all
the friction. I’m going to take them off and slide in my socks on the hard
floor instead.”
Good solution, Quinn. You do that.
The dirt on dirt
QUINN: Mommy, why do you wash my fruit before you give it to
me?
ME: Because fruits and vegetables grow outside, and dirt
gets on them. I’m washing the dirt off.
QUINN: That dirt is called soil, Mom.
Yes. Pardon me. Soil.
Earth conscious Quinn
QUINN: Mom, do you know that when the garbage truck comes to
our house and empties our garbage cans, it doesn’t disappear? It goes to a
place called a landfill.
ME: Yes, you’re right. All the garbage goes to a landfill. What
did Sid teach you about garbage?
QUINN: That we need to recycle. I’m glad you recycle. Good
job, Mom.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
As I live and
breathe.
QUINN: Mommy, where does all the air go in my body?
ME: You tell me. Where does the air go in your body?
QUINN: Into my lungs. Like this (Q takes a deep breath and lets it out.) See, my chest gets really big when I inhale, then it gets small when I exhale. And sometimes I exhale really loud and it’s a burp.
Don’t peel off your what??
Meanwhile, as I was cutting up an apple for Quinn…
QUINN: Mommy! Stop! STOP!
ME: What?! What?! What am I doing?!
QUINN: You’re cutting off my nutrients!
I was peeling the skin off his apple, which until that point
had been the devil. Note to self – do
not stand between Q and his nutrients.
(Ironically – this is the child who does not eat. Anything. Ever.)
Then, just when I
think I should call Mensa, Q reminds me that he just turned three…
QUINN: Mom, after you leave my room at night, I eat my
boogers.
I’m just going to pretend I don’t know this information.
