Today the Ubergoober was especially irksome right around naptime. We wanted him to take a nap in the worst way, which is always when small children decide they are not going to sleep. But I remained optimistic that I would win the nap-time battle.
Every time I passed by his bedroom, though, I would hear a strange jingling noise. I figured he was just playing with something and didn't think much of it. After about a half-hour, though, I went in to investigate. I found Goober standing next to his bed, holding the jar he keeps his stash of coins in.
"What are you doing?" I asked, curious as to why a little boy who doesn't understand monetary values was playing with a jar of loose change.
"I'm counting. I'm putting together two things and counting," he said.
"Show me," I asked and settled down on the bed next to him.
"Well, I take four quarters and then I take three quarters and I put them together and I get... seven quarters!" As he told me this he pulled out the appropriate number of quarters and stacked them on the bed next to me.
My mouth dropped open and my eyes almost fell out of my head. "You're doing addition," I said, more to myself than to Goober.
He nodded. "Yes. I'm adding the quarters. What do you think will happen if I add five and two?"
"Give it a try," I said.
He pulled out five quarters and two pennies and then counted.
"Seven!" he shouted. "This is fun. Can I do more later? I want to play outside now."
I assured him he could do that whenever he wanted. I was flabbergasted. While I was cursing him for not taking a nap, he was teaching himself addition.
Every day I'm astounded by how his brain grows. Reading has become more natural to him and he is so excited by how his world is opening up. He has always read street signs and he has been able to recognize numbers up to 10,000 for a while now. But now he's able to decode words that aren't visually linked in a logo. He's sounding words out, not just memorizing what they look like.
But more importantly, he's seeking out opportunities to learn. I'm so unbelievably grateful for that.
It almost made the missed nap time worth it. Almost.
5 comments:
Wow, he sounds like a very gifted little boy.
Love that. I went in my son's room last night to chew him out since his light was on and what did i find? He was reading!!! I bit back my lecture and just smiled. Sometimes these surprises are the very best kind.
I love this story! I'm experiencing the same thing with the twins now that they are in kindergarten. It's so amazing to see them learning. I'm in awe every day!
There are times a plenty for sleeping. All that learning spilling out is unstoppable.
Wow, what a bright mind he has. So lovely to see his enjoying his new skills too.
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