The other day Luci and I were watching a show I found on PBS called Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies. This is a cute show that teaches kids about animals and the natural world. For a review of the show check out this site.
In a nutshell, most of the characters are young animals of the African savannah who run into a problem they need to solve or a question that they want to answer. Mama Mirabelle the elephant illuminates the issue with home movies she has shot. While the characters are animated, the home movies are actual footage of animals shot by National Geographic or BBC (The show originally aired on the BBC, and although I hate to admit to being an anglophile, I LOVE the BBC.)
So Luci and I are sitting on the couch watching Mama Mirabelle explain to her calf, Max and his friends, Karla the zebra (who has a New Zealand accent?!?) and Bo the cheetah, why their new friend is so good at hide and go seek. Turns out their new friend is a bat. Thus Mama Mirabelle launches into an explantation of echolocation. They begin with talking about echoes and how certain sounds in certain places bounce back. At this point I look over and Luci has her head bent over her cup of "Hot-tea" (yes, my kid is already learning to enjoy a morning cup of herbal), and is talking into the mug. Apparentally she was expecting a reply because she kept saying things ("Mommydaddy, Daddymommy. Doggie?") and then putting her ear to the top of the mug to see if anyone would respond. It was all I could do to not double over laughing. I asked her if there was anyone in there. She gave me this puzzled look, looked back down into her cup and then up at the TV. We continued to watch the program without any more comic mishaps.
I love how much Bean's interested in animals and the natural world (I accept full blame with pride). She even has a book we found in Yellowstone about animal scat and tracks called Who Pooped in the Park? (an awesome series I might add). But already I want to start buying all those science activites you find at the Exploratorium in SF and other cool science museums. I'm already thinking about showing her how things grow and sprout roots (i.e. the infamous potato/toothpick thing). My mind races and I start checking out parent teachers stores and looking at teaching materials. And then I think maybe we should focus on colors and learning what blue is, and that blue and yellow make green, before we move onto photosythesis and evaporation. I think I grudgingly have to admit that my mom was right - I'm a teacher at heart, whether I want to be or not.
In a nutshell, most of the characters are young animals of the African savannah who run into a problem they need to solve or a question that they want to answer. Mama Mirabelle the elephant illuminates the issue with home movies she has shot. While the characters are animated, the home movies are actual footage of animals shot by National Geographic or BBC (The show originally aired on the BBC, and although I hate to admit to being an anglophile, I LOVE the BBC.)
So Luci and I are sitting on the couch watching Mama Mirabelle explain to her calf, Max and his friends, Karla the zebra (who has a New Zealand accent?!?) and Bo the cheetah, why their new friend is so good at hide and go seek. Turns out their new friend is a bat. Thus Mama Mirabelle launches into an explantation of echolocation. They begin with talking about echoes and how certain sounds in certain places bounce back. At this point I look over and Luci has her head bent over her cup of "Hot-tea" (yes, my kid is already learning to enjoy a morning cup of herbal), and is talking into the mug. Apparentally she was expecting a reply because she kept saying things ("Mommydaddy, Daddymommy. Doggie?") and then putting her ear to the top of the mug to see if anyone would respond. It was all I could do to not double over laughing. I asked her if there was anyone in there. She gave me this puzzled look, looked back down into her cup and then up at the TV. We continued to watch the program without any more comic mishaps.
I love how much Bean's interested in animals and the natural world (I accept full blame with pride). She even has a book we found in Yellowstone about animal scat and tracks called Who Pooped in the Park? (an awesome series I might add). But already I want to start buying all those science activites you find at the Exploratorium in SF and other cool science museums. I'm already thinking about showing her how things grow and sprout roots (i.e. the infamous potato/toothpick thing). My mind races and I start checking out parent teachers stores and looking at teaching materials. And then I think maybe we should focus on colors and learning what blue is, and that blue and yellow make green, before we move onto photosythesis and evaporation. I think I grudgingly have to admit that my mom was right - I'm a teacher at heart, whether I want to be or not.
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