Apr 30 2009
What Travel Does to Kids
My son is, I guess, a pretty typical second-grader. When he gets home from school and I ask how his day was, I usually get a reply of “fine.” Nothing more, nothing less, usually no details.
Until this week.
His teacher visited the Redwoods in California, and on Monday she told the class about them. When my son came home from school Monday, he told us all about it. “Mom, she showed us a comparison of a giant redwood, a 10-story building, and a tiny little apple tree.” “She brought back four pinecones for each of us. BIG redwood trees, TINY little pinecones.” “There’s a tree that she could have driven through, but she didn’t because it cost more money.”
That was just Monday.
On Tuesday, he showed us his pinecones and talked about the redwoods some more. “They’re called redwoods because their bark is red.” “See how tiny the pinecones are?”
And Wednesday at supper, he was still talking. “See, here’s the comparison between the redwood tree and the little apple tree!”
He does well in school, but few things have sparked this much interest from him this year. Travels, even if they’re someone else’s, seem to provide an enjoyment and learning opportunity that he won’t soon forget, and he’s shared it with us so that we’ll remember as well.
Now I’m adding the California Redwoods to our to-see list . . .
Great post! My kids love to travel. They are never the most talkative kids (except for the kindergartner…he talks A LOT!) but after we travel some place, the twins never seem to stop talking! (They are second graders, too, btw).
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Yes, you gotta go see the redwoods. I’ve seen them more times than I can count, and they never get less awesome.
So funny, that I was thinking that about my son today, as I heard him talking to his friends about where he went to see some dinosaur fossils. And then they sat around comparing museum notes- Have you gone to Cal Academy? No, but have you been to the DeYoung? It was hilarious listening to these 7 year olds talking about art museums.
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My girls still talk about things we’ve seen or done. It’s been over a year since we were in Ireland and Brenna brought up the jaunting cart yesterday. I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything.
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Hi Linda! I missed this one, but better late than never I guess…
My son is currently “traveling” around the world with his 1st grade class, and they’ve stopped just about everywhere. Saintly parents bring in typical foods, clothes, and activities (and I count myself in this group because I did England a month ago and am doing Costa Rica next week).
It’s so fun to see the kids get excited about all these places. My son is particularly ready to pack his bags for the Galapagos Islands. Eek.
We live not too far from the redwoods, so give us a shout when you come!