This weekend, we put a new rug pad under our living room rug, which involved lifting up the entertainment center. The entertainment center weighs approximately eleven billion pounds, but that didn't stop Andrew from trying to lift with his arms. Astoundingly, that didn't work, and Andrew started to say how we were going to have to empty it out, blah de blah blah. Now, "emptying out" the entertainment center is a huge ordeal of a project involving unplugging things, labeling cords, and finding a location for the nine thousand DVDs and videos we own but never watch. I suggested a lever. We only needed to lift the thing a few inches, after all, and Jack and I had recently learned all about levers on both
Curious George and
Sid the Science Kid. So I knew that if we had a stick and a cantilever, we'd be golden. I mean, on
George, the real-life kids they show at the end of a cartoon moved giant rocks using a skateboard as a lever, and if THEY could do it, two people with advanced engineering degrees should be able to do it. We're definitely smarter than those kids. Right?
So long story short, the lever worked and we did not have to empty the entertainment center. And when Jack saw what we were doing, I took advantage of the teachable moment and showed him how we had made a lever, just like George and Sid.
That was yesterday. Just now, while I was drinking my coffee, I heard Jack call out, "Hey, Mom, I'm moving the chair!"
And he was, too.
9 comments:
smart kid! And thanks for the reminder about levers. We're going to need to move something heavy soon, and I'm sure that dh and the eldest will be happy to play with levers...
I LOVE Sid!
As a former middle school science teacher (turned Mom and PT college prof for ML teacher wannabes), I wish PBS would have developed this ten years ago. The lessons are simple and well presented.
High five to Jack! :)
Very Cool! We're big Sid fans, too.
SO COOL! Go Jack!!
We watched those same two episodes of Sid and George. Charlie LOVES those shows.
I wonder what he will try to raise next. It could be fun to watch!
Are you sure Jack is two?
We lurve Sid and George. Sometimes we cruise back and forth between the various PBS channels we can catch up here (Boston, New Hampshire...) to maximize our George potential.
I immediately said (probably outloud), "oh, the episode where George goes to Scotland and plays golf." He used a lever to hold the secret door open (you know, where the squirrel hid the deed).
I love George. Sid's friend, Jerrold clearly has to go to the school nurse for his Ritalin.
Hey, looks like your Jack and my Widget and Bear would totally get in trouble together.
What a kid!
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