The Smarts

Carson, my 7 year old nephew (about to be 8 in five days), is one smart cookie. Seriously, I am amazed at what he knows and what he's learning in school. He is waaaay smarter than me, and I wish I could bring him to my 16 year old students to show them that Carson knows more than they do.


It is so cool to see him learning, asking questions, sharing his thoughts, and exploring. He approached me the other day and said, "Shiloh, do you think I'm inquisitive?" He caught me so off guard with his use of the word that all I could do was laugh.


"Why yes, Carson, you are a very inquisitive young boy."


Kyler asks, "What does inquisitive mean?" to which Carson replied, "It means, you ask a lot of questions. Corinne is definitely inquisitive. She's always asking questions."


Then Carson says to me, "Shiloh, you're very ..... ummmm, I can't think of the word. What's another word for beautiful?"

I was very flattered. "Pretty. Gorgeous. Cute?"

"No, it starts with an E."

"Exquisite?"

"Yes!! Shiloh, you are very exquisite."

"Why, thank you Carson."

Later on the in the day, Kyler told Carson, "My Wii game is funner than your game."

Carson: "Kye, funner isn't a word. It's more fun."

That evening, Carson was writing sentences on his paper. He used a comma to separate two adjectives (something my 16 year old students don't do). I asked him why he used a comma, and he correctly informed me why he put a comma in the place he did.

Finally, Carson took some time to talk to me about artwork. They have been studying Monet and some others I can't remember. He was talking about impressionist paintings, and I couldn't even hold a conversation with him because I had no idea what he was talking about.

If only their eagerness to learn followed my students into high school.

If only I was as smart as my 7 year old nephew.