Treads
Watching your little person figure something out is really amazing. Watching them figure something out that you didn't think they could is astounding.
Tonight at dinner Isaac was peppering me with questions (oh P-Pa, he is well on pace to break my record, well on pace...). What's the biggest--What's the smallest--What's the fastest. You get the idea. Then he asks a question that is hard to answer: What is the biggest truck? I tell him that the biggest production vehicle with wheels is the MRAP, which seems, after some fact checking, to be true. But I tell him that the question itself is hard to answer because at some point the vehicle gets so big they have to use treads. This leads, of course, to a question about what is a tread. Here is what happens:
Isaac: What is a tread?
Me: It is a series of interlocking plates that move against the ground and push a vehicle forward.
Isaac: Why?
Me: Well, at some point a vehicle gets too heavy for tires and treads spread out weight better and move heavy stuff better.
Isaac: What's a tread again?
Me: Interlocking plates...
At this moment he goes into a stare, that sort of far off stare you imagine a theoretical physicist having when contemplating the most complex of theories. Then he starts talking and using his hands. He makes his arms in a big hoop and makes sure the ends touch. Then he says to me: "Like this?" and he moves the hoop through the air, not just forward but around as well. Then he keeps going: "And they are metal?" I tell him yes, and again he gets that stare. And then he comes to the conclusion: "Like on the big machines outside, the ones working on the street?"
Bang. He did it. He reasoned from the word "tread" with the single hint about weight to the machines he sees outside.
His little amazing brain, without aid of anyone, went from an abstract description--a series of interlocking plates--to concrete object. And he did it with only one hint, about the need for the vehicle to be heavy. I was speechless. And holy moley is it amazing to watch how fast kids think. An adult with no knowledge of the word "treads" would have taken a year to figure this out. His little mind is so flexible, so nimble, its really a wonder.
Tonight at dinner Isaac was peppering me with questions (oh P-Pa, he is well on pace to break my record, well on pace...). What's the biggest--What's the smallest--What's the fastest. You get the idea. Then he asks a question that is hard to answer: What is the biggest truck? I tell him that the biggest production vehicle with wheels is the MRAP, which seems, after some fact checking, to be true. But I tell him that the question itself is hard to answer because at some point the vehicle gets so big they have to use treads. This leads, of course, to a question about what is a tread. Here is what happens:
Isaac: What is a tread?
Me: It is a series of interlocking plates that move against the ground and push a vehicle forward.
Isaac: Why?
Me: Well, at some point a vehicle gets too heavy for tires and treads spread out weight better and move heavy stuff better.
Isaac: What's a tread again?
Me: Interlocking plates...
At this moment he goes into a stare, that sort of far off stare you imagine a theoretical physicist having when contemplating the most complex of theories. Then he starts talking and using his hands. He makes his arms in a big hoop and makes sure the ends touch. Then he says to me: "Like this?" and he moves the hoop through the air, not just forward but around as well. Then he keeps going: "And they are metal?" I tell him yes, and again he gets that stare. And then he comes to the conclusion: "Like on the big machines outside, the ones working on the street?"
Bang. He did it. He reasoned from the word "tread" with the single hint about weight to the machines he sees outside.
His little amazing brain, without aid of anyone, went from an abstract description--a series of interlocking plates--to concrete object. And he did it with only one hint, about the need for the vehicle to be heavy. I was speechless. And holy moley is it amazing to watch how fast kids think. An adult with no knowledge of the word "treads" would have taken a year to figure this out. His little mind is so flexible, so nimble, its really a wonder.