Iain was sitting at the table with Ryan and Sean over the weekend and I was sitting nearby on the sofa when he said, “Momma, did Tom Edison invent anything besides the light bulb?” Now, this question came from out of the clear blue sky and I didn’t know the answer off the top of my head.
“Iain, why don’t you ask your dad? He’s from New Jersey and Thomas Edison was from there as well.” Since Sean was sitting right there, he jumped right in, “Thomas Edison also invented the phonograph, you know, the record player.”
Iain said,”Well I bet he didn’t invent as many things as Leonardo Da Vinci.” Ok, so I’m sitting there on the sofa wondering where in the world my eight year old came up with this conversation. I mean, he is always talking about inventing things but he has never discussed specific inventors so I asked him where all this was coming from. “The Simpsons!”, he replied. Wow. We went on to have an interesting conversation about the things that Iain would like to invent, about the fact that Thomas Edison was homeschooled, and so much more. Who would have thought that by letting him watch The Simpsons, of all things, he would learn something about two famous inventors? He’s always been fascinated by science and technology and has a cork board full of ideas he has for inventions. Now, watching an episode of The Simpson has deepened his interest just as much as the movie Meet the Robinsons did. Really wild. If I had sat down with him and opened a book about famous inventors, he would have tuned me out. Now the door is open for more conversation and who knows what will happen after that?
woohoo!
Don’t you just get so excited in your heart when things like this happen?
I just always want to do a jig… not because I am surprised, just because it’s such a happy thing to see the magic happen so naturally!
xxoo
I know that episode & I learnt heaps from it too!!
Gotta love the Simpsons!
Steph, that is totally the joy I get out of it, too!
Cate, How funny that you know that episode! I don’t watch The Simpsons. Is that weird?
I so love those moments! How exciting!
I just LOVE the Simpsons. I would probably say it is my favorite TV show. It has so much fun stuff and pop culture and interesting references. It’s what lead us to go to 7-11 when we were in Orlando last year.
yay a science fair! My daughter loves to do them. She even does them during the summer just for kicks. The last time she did one it was on different brands of popcorn and which one left the most unpopped kernals…oh yes, much needed information hahaha
I just love hearing about your boys, they are such interesting little men 🙂
Evie…
Hey! My son (9) picked a Thomas Edison book to read when we discussed biographies. It is SUCH a great book about Thomas Edison’s life and it also is filled with experiments. The name of it is Thomas Edison for Kids by Laurie Carlson. I am learning so much!!! 🙂