Fresh off her run as Star of the Week, Sydney has totally impressed me with her knowledge of our solar system. At bedtime last night, no doubt in an attempt to stall, the kids started talking about planets.
I don't remember how we started talking about planets, or the exact order of the conversation. But here are a couple key snippets that totally amazed me.
AJ: Earth is the third closest planet to the sun.
Me: I know that. Do you know which planet is the closet?
AJ: Ummm...
Me: It starts with an M.
AJ: Mars!
Me: Nope. M...mmm....
Sydney: Mercury!
Sydney knew that Mercury was a planet. I'm pretty sure when I was her age I might have heard of Earth, but that was it. And I probably didn't realize it was a planet. The conversation continued a bit later...
Me: Do you know which planet is the biggest?
AJ: Jupiter!
Me: Good. Which one is second biggest?
AJ: Earth!
Me: Nope. Starts with an S.
AJ: Saturn!
Sydney: That's the one with rings! That's my favorite planet!
Me: How do you know so much about planets? Did you learn this in preschool? Or from TV?
Sydney: No. I just know it.
Me: You know a lot about planets. Are you going to be an astronaut when you get big?
Sydney: No. (she paused in thought) Maybe I'll just be a teacher.
Sydney's interest in planets today translated into craft time. She wanted to "make Saturns" she told me. But it wasn't enough to draw the ringed planet. She wanted a 3-D version. And so we crumpled up paper and then wrapped a thin strip around it. And added tape. Lots and lots of tape, as all good preschool craft projects should have.
A little bit later, she convinced Jeff to help her make another planet. Neptune. Because that's AJ's favorite planet, apparently.
And what did she do with her masterpieces? Saturn is now taped to her door.
You can kind of see the ring around it.
And just down the hall, taped to AJ's door? Yup. That's Neptune.
It's blue because it's very cold on Neptune, Sydney explained.
"That's good, Sydney," AJ told her. "But it kind of looks like a flower."
Looking for a conclusion to this story, I just asked Sydney, "What other planets do you know?"
Sydney: Um, Jupiter!
Me: And what do you know about Jupiter?
Sydney: It has one red spot.
Me: You're right. Who told you that?
Sydney: Olivia.
Aha! One of her favorite cartoons - that's where she's learning this. In the time it's taken me to type this last section, Sydney came in carrying a balloon she'd gotten earlier today. It's now covered with a whole lot of red ink.
"One red spot," she proclaimed.
I probably should go, before her interest in outer space translates into a very messy personal space.
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