Hey, why won't my bike work?

 Last week St. Louis had a doozy of a winter storm. First we received freezing rain, and then almost a foot of snow in our neighborhood. Yesterday the temperature zoomed to 64 degrees here, and the snow began to melt. 

The driveway was cleared, so Alex and Charlie were excited to be able to ride their bikes outdoors. They asked if they could ride ON THE DEEP SNOW. I nodded, and they squealed with anticipation talking nonstop and fast about how they were going to slip and slide and spin and turn circles and beat one another. So rather than dissuade them, I said, "Sure! You can put your bikes up in the snow. Have fun."

That frozen snow bank was still about a foot high. Alex carefully positioned his tricycle on the mound, giggling and telling Charlie he would race him. Charlie took the bait and positioned his bike on the deep, frozen mound. The snow crunched as they climbed on their trikes...
 and promptly sunk down into the snow. 

I laughed as hard as they did as they tried to figure out why THEY couldn't drive on snow like cars had been. They decided the mostly cleared drive way, with a few icy spots would work, and off they went.

Have you ever been convinced that your idea would work, only to discover first hand that you were wrong? The best teacher in my opinion is experience.

We took the opportunity to discuss the properties of snow and watch it melt and trickle down the sewer. They put leaves and rocks and sticks on the run-off and spent fifteen minutes exploring how, why, what, and where. Science outdoors. 

When I taught, I told parents, "I will teach your children how to think not what to think." Kids really do learn best by DOING.