Oatmeal Discovery

Parent Teacher conferences are always fun! I have the opportunity to discuss with parents the great things their child is doing.  Together, we discuss practices that can be done at home and at school.  There is one conference I will never forget.

When the mom came for her three year old's conference, she brought her baby and the baby's diaper bag with her.  We held the conference outside where the children could play and the weather was pleasantly nice: cool shade and a slight breeze.  As we were talking, we didn't think much about her three year old who decided to go through the diaper bag.  Excited he went running away with something in his hand.  We both looked over just as he was ripping the top off a packet of instant oatmeal.  Another child came over to him to see what he had and he held it up high in the air.  Mom was standing up by now, ready to run across the play yard after him.  I told her I thought she should wait and see what he would do.  Slowly, he started to turn the packet of oatmeal upside down, ready to dump it all over the yard.  His mom called out for him, he turned and smiled at her as I put a hand on her arm and assured her that it was okay.  With a puzzled look, she turned back just in time to see him slowly pour the oatmeal out from the packet.

That's when the discovery happened.  The breeze reached out and grabbed that oatmeal.  It swirled in air in front of several little eyes.  All the children came running.  They giggled in awe and reached out to try to grab for little oats.  Then they danced across the play yard, chasing after little specks of oatmeal as it floated in the air.  If any piece fell to the ground, the children picked it up, held it high above their heads, and gently released, waiting for the wind to carry it away.  His Mom and I sat silently and watched.  When there was no more oatmeal to be found, the group of children that had formed ran over asking for more.  Poor Mom, she wasn't sure what to do.  She looked at me, and all I could do was smile.  She reached into the diaper bag and pulled out several more packets of oatmeal, quizzing me with a look of "Is this ok?".  As we watched the children explore the elements of wind with oatmeal, a door was opened that allowed me to teach this Mom not only the joy of learning, but the  importance of true discovery and our role as leaders to our children. 

How much learning is stopped before it ever had a chance to begin?