Zeke’s been having a lot of fun with the birthday present that he got from Grammie and Grampie Horsman. SuperMind comes with 32 plastic tiles of various shapes and sizes, and then 30 different puzzle frames for the tiles to fit into.
Today, as he was working on one, I said – thinking that he would love the long, cool word I was about to share with him – “Zeke, do you know what it’s called when all the tiles fit together like that, with no spaces showing?”
He looked up at me with a frown and said, “Uh, yeah Mummy, it’s called tessellation. Of course I know that.”
“How?!” I exclaimed.
“I…uh,…I saw it on Cyberchase.” he said with a shrug, and then went back to work.
Cyberchase is a kids math show that’s on the public TV station here. Wha’d'ya know… TV can be educational.
Grampie Horsman
January 11, 2007 at 9:07 am
Thanks, Zeke! Grampie learned a new word this morning. Happy Birthday, a few days late.
Janet
January 11, 2007 at 9:58 am
Oh, I’m glad you didn’t know it either! I just learned it last year, when Elijah was learning about tessellation in Kindergarten. I thought, “Did I miss this lesson in math, or am I just stupid and can’t remember it?!”
Maybe it’s US curriculim? Did any of my other canadian readers know the word “tessellation?” And are your kids learning it now?
Julie
January 11, 2007 at 10:23 am
Hmmmm…I’ve never heard that word before. Maybe it’s a new word?? It would be nice to have some excuse for not knowing it….
Holly Howe
January 11, 2007 at 4:34 pm
tesse-whaaaaaaat…??! lol.
Aunt Debie
January 12, 2007 at 8:30 am
I’ve got to comment on this one.
Last September, as usual, Aidan was playing with his food…this time with Sheddries (a square Canadian cereal). All of a sudden he said, “Look, Mom, a tessellation!” “A what?!!?”, I said. “A tessellation!” “What is a tesselation?” “It’s when tiles are together with no space between them.” “Wow,” I said stunned, “Where did you learn that?” “Cyberchase,” he said matter-of-factly.
I was impressed. This has been Aidan’s favorite show for a very long time, even though I thought that the math concepts were over his head. I was wrong.
Then, Aidan’s kindergarden teacher in October said that Aidan was creating something on his own, and Mr. B asked Aidan what he was doing and Aidan said that he was making tessellations. Mr. B was very impressed with Aidan’s math knowledge, and how matter of fact he was with that particular concept. I was sure that Mr. B was very impressed at what an amazing mother I was to make sure that my son was a GENIUS. HOWEVER, it was Aidan who taught me about this, definately NOT the other way around. No “mother of the year” awards coming my way.
I always knew that children can teach you things, but I never expected to learn math from my 5 year old. How embarrassing…and helpful.
Carolyn
January 12, 2007 at 10:14 am
Grampy Horsman just came to my desk and asked me what a tessellation was? I thought he needed my spellcheck again!! What an amazing word – who knew? Certainly not I!! I hope we get Cyberchase in Canada because all of a sudden I’m feeling very very old and definitely obsolete…
Janet
January 12, 2007 at 10:17 am
Hi Debie,
Elijah and Zeke love Cyberchase too, and it’s very cool how they can learn something while being entertained!
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