Proven Wrong, Yet Again

Every year, I do a unit about Transportation. As part of this unit, we have a discussion about traffic lights. It is a good opportunity to talk about spatial relationships, colors, and introduce perennial favorite, Red Light/Green Light.

I get out my red, yellow and green circles, and arrange them on my white board, putting them in the correct order. We talk about how the red light is on top, the yellow light is in the middle, and the green light is on the bottom. And this is when little David raises his hand and says, "But really, green is in the middle."

I reply, with a note of condescension in my voice, "No, honey, green is on the bottom." And I reference my handy diagram on the white board to illustrate my point.

David, with a tone of condescension in his voice says, "Yes, there the green light is on the bottom. In a real traffic light, the green light is in the middle."

Obviously, David is confused. But, this is easily remedied, because the preschool is located right on an intersection, complete with traffic light. Field Trip!

I gather the class and we march outside to look at the traffic light. I was so excited to have the opportunity to use a real life example to show David this concept.

We all look up at the traffic light, and....from the top, here is the order of the lights. Red, yellow, green, yellow arrow, green arrow. Yes, The green light is in the middle. I am a dork, and obviously not versed in traffic light appearance in my city.

David, being a kind and understanding soul, did not jump up and down and yell, "In your FACE!" He simply said, "See? Real traffic lights are different than ones you make out of paper."

When will I learn that these kids know way more than me???




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