The other day my room mate's daughter came to tell me all about this thing she'd learned in school. "Did you know that America was once a part of England?!?" She was so excited to tell me this new fact she'd heard. It was like it was completely astonishing. Didn't America always exist? I know she didn't really believe that, but she was surprised that it was ever a British colony. (Originally she called it "Britland" which was the cutest thing!) Isn't it wonderful to see the excitement on a child's face when they've got some new fact or information to share? It's like they've just learned the most important thing in the world!
This, of course, started off a whole conversation. I love history, so it shouldn't be surprising that I'd want to share that knowledge with another. We talked about how, if we were still a British colony, we might have tea time every day instead of lunch. We talked about what "school" would be for a girl her age in colonial times. We talked about the Native American tribes and the bartering they did instead of spending money. We talked about the shot heard around the world, Lexington and Concord, and the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. I even told her how I learned to spin for the first time at the House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA. I've forgotten since, but I did learn way back.
When a child is interested, it's amazing where the conversation can go. We talked about writers. She loves poetry, so poets were one of the topics. She told me all her favorite poems. I told her all of mine. We talked for what seemed like no time at all, but it was closer to two or three hours!
I can't tell you what a joy it was to share all that information, and to share it with a child that isn't even my own is even more amazing! I loved being able to talk about history with someone who wanted to know. It's not often I have a chance to talk history anymore. It seems no one is interested, but children are always interested in something.
I have to admit, there were a few times I feared that she was bored. I know I can tend to be long-winded. I know I can talk endlessly about subjects my audience may not even care about. I was just going on and on endlessly, seeming to dribble forth all this knowledge. I was really afraid I'd bored her. Then she said "I feel like you're my teacher right now." She said it was a good thing, but I gave her the chance to run off and play if she'd like. What did she do? She started asking me even more questions! The curiosity of children never stops amazing me!
I guess it's true! A child put in an environment where knowledge is readily available in an interesting way, they will learn! I'm just glad that for this one girl, I was that inspiration to learn. I hope she walked away with even more of an interest in history. I hope she continues to learn about all the topics we covered, from colonial America to the Freedom Trail to poetry and literature! She's an absolutely brilliant girl, and as long as she never loses that spark and that drive to keep learning, she's going places in this world!
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