Leaf Learning

Children learn so much from stories.  I love the way they take details from books that adults would likely skim over,and apply it to their world.

I remember one night a few months ago my three year old came forlornly out of her bedroom at night and asked for some parsley.  My husband looked at me with raised eyebrows while my brain scrambled to make sense of my child’s request.  A light bulb flicked on in my mind as I recalled one of our favourite stories – The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

If you are unfamiliar with the story (I know, I know… but just in case) Peter Rabbit overindulges himself in Mr Macgregor’s garden and ends up with a stomach ache.  To ease his discomfort he seeks out some parsley!

Having made the connection, I asked my daughter if she had a sore tummy, which she did.  I had to explain that parsley wouldn’t work as well for a little girl as it would a little rabbit, but some infant Panadol did the job!

Then on Friday morning we were reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which is also read often in our house.  When we finished it  my daughter said, “Mummy, caterpillars eat a juicy green leaf when they have a tummy ache.  And rabbits eat a parsley leaf.  What kind of leaf do people eat to fix a tummy ache?”

An excellent question.

Fortunately, I had an appointment with my GP only a couple of hours later.  Even more fortunately, she is excellent with children.  She humoured us both – listening intently to my daughter’s very serious question, and giving  her a sensible answer to satisfy her three year old curiosity.

Phew!