With my grandson Sunday–he wanted to see “Raccoon Nation” again, a program I had recorded on the PVR on spec for him. He likes raccoons–he loves his retro Fisher-Price raccoon pull-toy–but who knew how much? He pointed me to the couch and sat down with the small stuffed raccoon we’d brought him back from Victoria. The raccoon was also going to watch the show with the sound turned down.
And so I started to describe what the show raccoons were doing: “Now he’s coming down the tree. Look he’s crawling into the garage! There’s his face peeking out. Peek-a-boo.”
Of course, he started getting into it, repeating phrases, to make the experience his own. Lifting his raccoon to see the show better, and adding commentary of his own. “Pink” he called out when the night lens showed a pink scene. “”White” when he saw the top of the wall. “Garage” when he later saw it beyond a garbage can. “Mama” when he saw the mother with the babies. “What a mess” he repeated, when they knocked it over. And he even got a little worried when the raccoons started crossing the street with moving cars in the background. It’s a raccoon world out there for my grandson, who wanted me to replay the program after.
Timing–the readiness for new experience, new understandings, new discoveries that truly matter and resonate to a learner. And so the world opens up wide with the readiness to learn. That and Raccoon Nation.