Wonder & joy

Who says you need a physics class when you're a toddler? OK, nobody is advocating toddler physics classes but watch a toddler observe gravity and you'll wonder if it isn't necessary.

This morning Jacqueline squealed with joy when she repeatedly picked up a piece of cotton, held it up, and let it fall to ground. BOOM! Gravity. During this little experiment she would drop it a couple of times and then she would throw it a couple of times and watch. BOOM! Force. Two self-directed physics lessons in the 3 minutes. All of this was accompanied by a look of joy and squeals of excitement and wonder.

I am continually amused and awed by what kids know and how they learn and how both of those vary from kid to kid. Jacqueline and Julia are so different in many ways but they are also very much sisters. Jacqueline is starting to come into her own although she is definitely watching and learning from Julia. Also, I am fascinated in their ability to use associative skills to make sense of the world. Of course, I can't think of any examples but Julia pieces abstract concepts together all the time and I recently saw Jacqueline do it... we were outside and she saw a bird walking on the ground and watched. She pointed to the bird and made sure I saw it, then she went over to the bird feeder and did the same. She does it with other patterns (Johnders needs his collar before he goes outside) and it is quite often astonishing or maybe because I am not giving a 16 month old enough credit or maybe because she, like her sister, is special or maybe because both.