the real source of education

It is amazing to witness the wealth of knowledge that comes to children so young from simply reading books. It is always gratifying for me to hear the effects of reading on my childrens' minds. Jaidyn has demonstrated this for me many times:

While I was pouring pretend tea into her tea cup, she declared "adequate".

One day, shortly after her Aunt Ashlee's wedding, she was chattering on about weddings and how fancy and wonderful they are when she mentioned the "wedding maiden" and how fun it would be to get fancy and beautiful and do all of things they do. It took me a minute and register what she was talking about - the bride. She couldn't come up with the word bride, but without skipping a beat she talked about the "wedding maiden" as if that was a perfectly normal term to use. I knew that it could only have come from a book.

Recently, after coming home from school, the kids were describing the events of their day, when Jaidyn explained " Aston always walks with this boy until they have to part and Aston bids him farewell".

But, by far, the information that Jaidyn has enlightened me with that has had the most shocking effect is the one she explained to me yesterday. She was talking to me in the kitchen, when she saw an empty can of ginger-ale and she said "Ew, I don't like that. It's sweet at first, but after it tastes bitter like beer". It took me a minute to register what she was saying. Quite taken back, I replied "Honey, how do you know what beer tastes like", to which she replied "I read it in a non-fiction book". Up until now, I had not stopped to think about the possibility of her picking up this kind of information. She has come to me with naughty words and some inappropriate language from books, but never had I imagined that she would be taught about what beer tastes like. I guess if this is the way she discovers it, and she can know that it's gross without ever having to find out for herself, then I am going to have to say I'm okay with it!