Sunday, March 21, 2010

Here is how it happens

First, you plan a tea party with your grandma for your birthday. The tea is based on a picture you drew for said grandma for Christmas. At the birthday party, you receive lots of hair accessories for your cosmetology head. One of the accessories is a big, red flower. You experiment by putting it on a black silk cord around your neck. Someone comments that you look very Spanish. This prompts a Spanish Fan Dance using a big fan which was a gift from another friend. Then your other grandma, who is, of course, there for the tea party, starts singing made-up words for Toreador from Bizet's Carmen. One of the words in the made up version is "bassoon." On the way home from the tea party you ask your mama what a bassoon sounds like. When you get home you consult Wikipedia for a bassoon recording. Now you know. Then you ask about that song Grandma was singing. You pull up Carmen online, listen to several version of Toreador, then you make a Pandora station based around that and ask about the story. Your mama pulls a book off the shelf which tells the story. She had it there because it is her second favorite opera and she figured you might be interested someday. You read the book cover to cover and then start to look up the french words from the lyrics online.

And that is how real learning happens.

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

[Laughing in an admiring, happy sort of way.]
What a wonderful story, Jenn. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

Jodi said...

Love it!! It truly IS how real learning happens. Being curious, open, questioning, inquisitive, available, free, etc. Great story!

Tracy Million Simmons said...

Love it!

denise said...

exactly.