Creating Monsters!

Monday, December 15, 2008

My daughter loves chemistry. This is one way she is NOT like her mother! I skipped it in high school, choosing physics instead (math is good, science is bad, was my philosophy). When I took chem 100 in college it was pretty much a blow off class--I read books during lectures and crammed for tests and didn't learn a thing. But Briana loves it. Dad gets home and is subjected to questions like: Hey Dad, do you know why rubber balls are bouncy? Then she spends 10 minutes explaining how the molecules react to one another and something about gas rising and trying to get out and I don't know what all. I think I have a mental block in this area--it just doesn't sink in. Alan, on the other hand, is obviously the one from whom she inherits this ability as he immediately grasps what she's saying and asks intelligent questions. I just say 'hmmm, isn't it amazing how God makes things work?!' I'm thinking of this because she just went into a long and detailed explanation about why water and oil don't mix while using confusing words like solvent (doesn't this have to do with finances?!) and solution (the answer to a problem?) and suspension (hanging out in space, right?) and immiscible (yeah, I'd never heard of that one!). It's at times like these that a homeschool mom seeks a program that walks kids through the lessons and experiments step by step and encourages 'independent learning'. Destry, on the other hand, is quite frustrated with our chemistry program, and is just getting through it the best he can. As he was just making some smart remarks about having to do chemistry a moment ago, and I questioned him about his attitude, he defended himself with "It was a jocular comment, Mom." Mmmmm, hmmmm. . .using vocabulary as a defense--that would be his mother surfacing in his personality. I had to hide a grin.