I was in the elevator with a girl of 4 or 5 years old who asked her mother, "Why is that there?" She was referring to a little board book, about 4" x 4", that I could barely see in the folds of her younger sister's stroller. (Her mother said she forgot to put the book away before they left.)
This incident reminded me how we all have different strengths and talents. What can help a child in any country, who speaks any language, learn what she or he can contribute to the world probably better than anyone else? Consider the kindergarten teacher who helped her students learn numbers and addition by asking each child to draw a number and either draw or find pictures that made a combination of objects that equaled that number. When the number pictures were hung on the wall in numerical order, the children sat on the floor and talked about what they saw. While one student observed two red scissors and three blue scissors had been used to illustrate the number five, another said the handles of four of the scissors pointed left and the handle of the other scissors pointed right. These keen observers (and future mathematicians) had discovered five could be the sum of 2 + 3 or 4 + 1. Parents can see if their children are keen observers who can add up the number of items that go into a salad, their lunch bags, or a grocery basket at the market.
Teachers discover keen observers (and students with writing talent), when they ask their classes to write mini-memoirs about significant moments in their pasts. Directing young people to focus on the influences on their lives is a technique that can lead to valuable insights about their personal interests and their future career options.
(An earlier blog post, "Resolve to Help Kids Observe Their World," suggests some of the observations future scientists might make.)
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