I like to let the boys do their own exploring, find their own things, and talk about them amongst themselves. If they have a question, I'll answer. My theory: a good scout camp should be 1/3 learning stuff, 1/3 doing stuff, 1/3 poking dead things with a stick.
Henry is one of our youngest Beavers, and is normally a bit reserved. Something happened on the beach the first day that turned him into a celebrity.
Boy: Look at this clam shell! It has a hole RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE! How did that happen?
Henry: A snail did it.
Other Boy: How could a SNAIL do that?
Henry calmly explained how a snail eats--how it grabs hold of a clam with its foot, then uses a special appendage (he called it a tongue) with tiny teeth to grind a hole. It then uses gooey juices to kill and digest the animal inside.
Boys: Coooooool.
Henry: Yeah. I guess it's kind of interesting.
Soon, boys were bringing all sorts of things for him to explain. It was wonderful to watch.
Boy: How come you're just a kindergarten, but you know so much stuff?
Henry: I'm a real scientist.
Boys: Wow.
Henry shrugged his shoulders and looked at me for a moment.
Henry: And I'm not in kindergarten. I homeschool.
This became a major topic of conversation for the rest of camp. I overheard a couple of boys decide between themselves that homeschool kids are geniuses.
I could just imagine what Henry would have said.
Henry: Well, we're not all geniuses.
3 comments:
Our 6 yr old Owen is in Beavers too. I love your 1/3's.
What a great moment for him. Remind him of that someday when he's a teen.
I will be forty-five tomorrow, am university educated (with a history major, mind you, not biology) and have owned a cottage on the south shore of PEI for fifteen years: Henry taught me something today. Please pass on my thanks.
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