Gravity

My youngest son, 6, Coco, has recently made me promise to tell him the Sox score, each night when I check on him and his brother, when I finally turn in. Most times, I whisper the score, kiss him on the head, pull the covers up for him. And leave. Last night he actually perked up when I told him the Sox won, 9-3.

"Same score as last night" in a hoarse whisper.

"Pretty close. It was 9-2 last night. 4 home runs again."

"Papi?"

"Yep."

At this point, he's somewhat awake (eyes are at half mast), so I suggest he take a trip to the Loo. As we are walking the conversation continues:
"How many runs scored on Papi's HR?"
"2."

"Who was on base?"

"Coco."

"Cool."

I wish I had the command of the game that he has when I was 6. I certainly don't try to force it on him. But he and his brother ask questions. So I answer. That's really the key with any learning. You have to take the time and answer their questions. You also have to make it age appropriate. That's not to say, talk to them in baby talk or kid talk. But make sure the explanation is something they can relate to their frame of reference.

We had a discussion a year or two ago about centrifugal force. I started with an explanation about a top spinning and then a sharp turn in a car. I thought that was the end of the discussion when Caz asked. "So why don't we fly off the Earth because it's constantly spinning?" That lead to a whole conversation on gravity. Thank you Schoolhouse Rocks! for giving me a good idea on answering that one using Sir Isaac, an apple, and some rhyming.