July 24, 2012

Vocabulary Lesson


learning

My 6 year old son learned this word from his kindergarten teacher:
o·vip·a·rous   [oh-vip-er-uhs]
adjective Zoology .
producing eggs that mature and hatch after being expelled from the body, as birds, most reptiles and fishes, and the monotremes.
That's a very sophisticated vocabulary word for a kindergartner, don't you think?

And, the definition of oviparous gave me another word I didn't know and needed to look up:
mon·o·treme   [mon-uh-treem]
noun
any animal of the Monotremata, the most primitive order of mammals, characterized by certain birdlike and reptilian features, as hatching young from eggs, and having a single opening for the digestive, urinary, and genital organs, comprising only the duckbill and the echidnas of Australia and New Guinea.
Uh. OK.

Wait. What?

The duck-billed platypus is a monotreme.

Oh, that explains it.

No it doesn't. I mean, can a duck-billed platypus really be explained?

Anyway, my point is, my son's kindergarten teacher taught him, and he in turn taught me.

I didn't know the word oviparous (nor monotreme) before my son excitedly recounted what he had learned in school.

I love that!
National Geographic

6 comments:

  1. I love that too! I love the excitement the little ones feel and show when they have new knowledge...unlike the 8th graders I teach who think they know everything they need to know. :/
    So...I learned oviparous and monotreme today too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a wonderful quote and such a true statement. I am amazed by what the kids learn in school and how often they tell me something I wasn't aware of. We never stop learning. I also find that since I started blogging I learn something new everyday. It had truly enriched my life!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, now I'm really nervous for my daughter to start in September! I thought I'd know more than her until at least Grade 5! Thanks for linking up, great quote :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. learning from kids is awesome... I love when my nephews and stepson ask me what "such and such" word means... and then I have to think about it.. or sometimes look it up. We all learn!

    ReplyDelete
  5. fantastic quote!

    and nothing "edumacates" ya faster than your kids starting school. my son kept confusing "nocturnal" with "marsupial" (which I had to look up, ya know..for clarification).

    ReplyDelete