Children are such innocent, pure thinkers when they are just starting to grasp the English language. They take everything so literally. When I was attempting to retrieve a game from the top of a closet, I had to ask my three year old grandson to grab a stool. At 5' 3", I am a shortie compared to his parents. They easily place things out of his and my reach.
After bringing me the stool, my grandson seriously informed me that if I ate all of my vegetables, I would grow taller. It took me a while to explain to him that I was already as tall as I was ever going to be. As an almost vegetarian, his comment hit me as pretty funny. Obviously, our talk wasn't quite enough for him, because his dad told me that he asked him later why Bee wouldn't get any taller.
We never know what kids are thinking and how they are processing learned information. There are numerous layers of learning and connections taking place all of the time. I have had students return after a year and tell me that things had magically clicked and they were moving into advanced math classes. I have also seen the "aha" moments happen in my own class. I shared such experiences with their previous math teachers, because everything came together after layers of learning, not just something I said. How exciting it is to watch kids learn and think about their world.
