Connectivity...in the eyes of a 7 year old...

I am on a much needed vacation...at the Jersey Shore. The house in which we are staying does not have internet access...but there is a coffee shoppe down the street that has free wifi. I usually go there in the am to catch up on my feeds before everyone gets up. When we are lucky and the weather is just right, we are able to connect to their access...hey I go there for coffee every am any way ;-)

This morning my son was up early. He is 7 and had used his spending money yesterday to buy his 2nd webkinz. The following is the conversation we had at 6:30 am....Mind you I was up at 4:30 to finish my research...but alas, not internet access at the house...

"Mommy...I need to get on your computer...

Me too, Austin, I have work to do.

But I have to garden....Why can't you do your work on your computer and I can do my webkinz on the black one?

Because there is no internet here at the house today.

But we could play yesterday....

I know, but today we can't get internet access...you need to be able to connect to the internet to play webkinz.

So why can't you just plug it in...

Well, it is a different kind of plug you need. You know at home we have the blinky box that tells us we are connected to the internet. That box is a router, it connects your computer to the internet so you can play your games and mommy can do her work. We don't have one here at this house.

Oh....
At this point, he goes and unplugs my cell phone....

What are you doing Austin?

Calling Daddy to tell him to bring down our box.....
PRICELESS...His perception, if we have all of the tools, we can connect...to meet his objectives...hmmmmm what is this saying to us as educators?

Austin & I headed to the coffee shop when it opened at 7. He harvested his garden, set up his rooms, cared for his pets and played games while I did my research. What struck me about the whole experience was the expectation he had...that his tools would always be available...and how he was going to problem solve to be able to do what he needed to do. And watching him play--battleship...and dice kinz, the strategy he used to win the game (and he very rarely lost using his strategy) How he methodically planned his time and money to get what he needed. Reading the kinznews....did I know that if we got back to the coffee shop before it closed at 10 (pm mind you) we could get our coupon for the day..and he is 7...and in September....

I have had an interesting conversation this week with Jeff Utecht which started with a post he wrote about putting it in perspective....why do we keep barking up the same old trees...
Because there are MANY Austin's in our classes...and we want to provide them with the same rich learning experiences in schools to meet OUR objectives.