The wonder of ducks and books
Jennifer Jones wrote yesterday regarding her daughter’s use of books as a source of information. It reminded me of a story about my daughter at the Calgary Zoo. Stick with me – it is relevant.
(photo by D’Arcy Norman – http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/7823971/
The Calgary Zoo is an amazing place. All the exotic animals are there – elephants, giraffes, monkeys, leopards and all those other charismatic megafauna. When my daughter was 2 we went to the Calgary Zoo. It is a big place, much more than a 2 year old can take in during a single visit. We scurried around the zoo trying to take in as much as possible. We don’t get to Calgary too often so we wanted to make the visit a good experience for her. But we were using our adult perspective on good experience, not the 2 year old version. After three hours, she was completely mentally overloaded and physically exhausted. We found a bench to sit down and she wandered over to a fence overlooking a pond filled with ducks. She watched the ducks for 20 minutes, absolutely fascinated by them. She enjoyed them as much or more than any of the more exotic animals. Only then did it occur to me that to her, the ducks were just as interesting and novel as the elephants. It’s only after years of seeing ducks in the ponds by the roadside that we lose our sense of wonder when we see them.
Maybe the assumption that kids want to learn from multimedia resources is as faulty as the assumption that my daughter wanted to see all the uncommon (in North America) animals more than anything else. I’ve certainly been guilty of making both of those assumptions. Ducks were just as new and fascinating as anything else. For kids, especially younger ones I think, books are as new and fascinating as other forms of media. As adults we might have grown used to them and consider them boring and archaic. I’m glad kids are around to remind us of the wonder of ducks and books even when adults have grown used to them being there.
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nice photo! we have passes to the calgary zoo, and spend maybe 75% of our time there at the playground. I used to get frustrated – BUT! THE! ANIMALS! and then I realized, that to my 5 year old, the adventure of climbing and exploring the playground is as exciting (or moreso) than seeing the animals. It’s all good. Now, I pack my iPod and some coffee, and enjoy some quiet time watching him play, then taking an “animals break” to check out some of the critters before returning to the playground…
D'Arcy Norman - 2008/05/27 at 21:22
nice photo! we have passes to the calgary zoo, and spend maybe 75% of our time there at the playground. I used to get frustrated – BUT! THE! ANIMALS! and then I realized, that to my 5 year old, the adventure of climbing and exploring the playground is as exciting (or moreso) than seeing the animals. It’s all good. Now, I pack my iPod and some coffee, and enjoy some quiet time watching him play, then taking an “animals break” to check out some of the critters before returning to the playground…
D'Arcy Norman - 2008/05/27 at 21:22
I love this story! It could be used to illustrate so many points. I want to go see the ducks now!
Jen - 2008/05/27 at 23:03
I love this story! It could be used to illustrate so many points. I want to go see the ducks now!
Jen - 2008/05/27 at 23:03
I remember playing in the snow at national parks when I was a kid, and my parents trying to get me to look at whatever neat feature the park had. But I was a California kid that never saw snow except on vacation, so snow was much more interesting than yet another waterfall.
Keri Morgret - 2008/05/28 at 17:39
I remember playing in the snow at national parks when I was a kid, and my parents trying to get me to look at whatever neat feature the park had. But I was a California kid that never saw snow except on vacation, so snow was much more interesting than yet another waterfall.
Keri Morgret - 2008/05/28 at 17:39