Connections or Lack Thereof

Yesterday we were reading a lesson in our science book about fungi. We got to a part about mold and, of course, the kids want to share every single encounter they've ever had with mold. While I encourage the children to make connections between what they read and their real life experiences, this can get totally out of hand quickly. So I chose only 3 people to call on. The first 2 told short, simple stories like about what happened when their mom accidentally left a container of cream cheese in the refrigerator for too long. Here's how the last kid's story went:

Kid: I once accidentally left a piece of bread out on the counter for a week, and...

Me: A week?

Kid: Yeah, a week. Anyway, it got covered in this furry stuff...

Me: You mean mold?

Kid: Yeah, mold, like in our book. Anyway, then my cat ate it and...

Me: Your cat ate it???

Kid: Yeah, my cat ate it and...(he goes on to talk about the mold some more and how there was hardly any bread left because the mold "ate" it -- which is true!)

Me: Was your cat okay?

Kid: I dunno.

Me: What do you mean you don't know?

Kid: I dunno if he was okay or not.

Me: Do you still have the cat?

Kid: Yeah

Me: Then he's okay!

He's such a cute kid, but totally clueless in some ways. That's another thing I love about kids. They just don't have enough life experience to connect the dots in ways that are so obvious to adults. Cat still alive = cat okay!


P.S. A small victory! They turned off the AC! My room was actually comfortable today. Nobody had to wear a coat or anything! This only happened because I went down to the useless chief engineer's office yesterday and asked him to pleeeeeeease turn off the air. His response: "You're cold?" I would've punched him had my hands not been to cold to form a fist. Apparently my word that it was too cold was not enough for him. The teacher next door to me told me that the useless chief engineer came up this morning to ask her if she was too cold, too. She obviously replied yes and the air was turned off! Voila!