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Ok, time for a thread about funny "knowledge gaps"


LucyStoner
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So what have you realized your kids didn't know?

 

Recently on some mental math review some questions about probability were based on a standard deck of cards. Like what are the odds of getting a red face card sort of things.

 

"A deck of what?"

 

"Cards"

 

"Note cards? Christmas cards? Whaaaaat!?"

 

"Playing cards."

 

;)

 

Having not seen cards since he stopped playing go fish on a stylized kids deck as a little kid, my 10 year old was mystified. I explained that there were 4 suits, 2 red and 2 black and the cards were numbered 2-10 and then there was a Jack, Queen, King and Ace and he was even more baffled. We walked to the drug store the next day and bought a deck and he promptly took to teaching himself card tricks. I also started playing go fish with little brother using the regular cards and not the stylized kids cards with cartoons on them.

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Both my dds have graduated now, but my oldest, now 23, liked to pull my chain about this when she was in high school.  We'd be having a conversation about something, e.g, history and Martin Luther would come up.  She's innocently say something about him living in England. I'd start off  with a," NO! You know that he was from Germany. I taught you that, remember?  Remember he posted the 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg? Doesn't that sound German?" And then I'd look at her and see a tiny smile and a glint in her eye. :laugh: She'd do that every once in a while and still does on occasion. 

 

Mary

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Sad but for the longest time my daughter thought that Barnes and Nobles was the library because I always buy our books.  The first year we homeschooled (2nd grade) her mind was blown first when we went to the library and then a week or two later when I told her we had to return books! LOL... now we go to Barnes and Noble for everything again because the late fees were getting out of control.

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A while ago one of my daughters was texting another homeschooling friend. She asked me, "who is Sade?" I said, "do you mean the singer?" She said, "no, in all of the rap songs and stuff they talk about a girl named 'Sade,' who is she?" I said, "OH, you mean SHORTY. That's what they call girls. Shorty/Shawty." She furiously texted her other homeschool girl friends who had been mulling over this question, lol.

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I realized my 7 year old doesn't know how to shake hands.  The chorus instructor held out her hand to DD1 and, after staring at it for a minute, she reached out and held it with her left hand.

 

My kids don't know what a toaster is. We've never had one. Every time a picture of one comes up in the Explode the Code books I get a blank stare.

 

We had a similar problem with the mop.   :ohmy:  I do mop, I swear!  It just doesn't look like the kind they drew in the book.

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A while ago one of my daughters was texting another homeschooling friend. She asked me, "who is Sade?" I said, "do you mean the singer?" She said, "no, in all of the rap songs and stuff they talk about a girl named 'Sade,' who is she?" I said, "OH, you mean SHORTY. That's what they call girls. Shorty/Shawty." She furiously texted her other homeschool girl friends who had been mulling over this question, lol.

Haha--I didn't know that!

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I'll admit that as a third year medical student I really had no idea how many cigarettes were in a pack.  (Kind of useful since smoking history is often quantified in pack-years.)  Additionally while six packs are a bit self explanatory I really wasn't sure how many beers were in a case (or how much whiskey was in a fourth either for that matter).  I'm still a nonsmoking alcohol naive individual but I at least know what is out there. 

 

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I realized my 7 year old doesn't know how to shake hands. The chorus instructor held out her hand to DD1 and, after staring at it for a minute, she reached out and held it with her left hand.

 

We had a problem with taking attendance at swim class. They heard their names called and said, "What?" I motioned at them to raise their hands so they did... and left them up until their instructor came by and helped them put them down about a minute later.

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Ds10 is a voracious reader, and he reads very quickly. So quickly that he got annoyed with read alouds and refused to participate anymore when he was 6 because I read too slowly. Fast forward 4 years, and the other night at dinner he was telling us about a video game he had started and commented that in the game dragons are the "hair-bringers" of doom. :huh: :lol:

 

When we finally stopped laughing we explained the correct pronunciation of harbingers, and talked about words dh and I pronounced incorrectly because we had only read them and not heard them aloud so he would know it is a common thing for kids who read a lot.

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When we finally stopped laughing we explained the correct pronunciation of harbingers, and talked about words dh and I pronounced incorrectly because we had only read them and not heard them aloud so he would know it is a common thing for kids who read a lot.

:lol:  :lol:   I was a crazy reader when I was a kid and I can still remember two words I mispronounced in my head every time I read them. Pneumonia- something like Pu-moan-ia. And in one book there was a main character named Geoffrey. I had never seen that spelling before and thought it was Gee-off-rey.  I still silently chuckle when I read that name.

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I'll admit that as a third year medical student I really had no idea how many cigarettes were in a pack.  (Kind of useful since smoking history is often quantified in pack-years.)  Additionally while six packs are a bit self explanatory I really wasn't sure how many beers were in a case (or how much whiskey was in a fourth either for that matter).  I'm still a nonsmoking alcohol naive individual but I at least know what is out there. 

 

So, how many cigarettes are there in a pack?  Do tell!  I still don't know!  Sheltered, I guess.  :laugh:  And I worked in a gas station for a while in college!

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So, how many cigarettes are there in a pack?  Do tell!  I still don't know!  Sheltered, I guess.  :laugh:  And I worked in a gas station for a while in college!

Apparently twenty!  So yeah, someone with a 10-pack year tobacco history would have smoked around 74,000 cigarettes...yikes!

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My dd had to take a statistics class in college and when they came to the probability unit it was all about gambling.  "On a roulette wheel what is the probability of getting a red?"  "An odd number?"  "00?"  "If you are playing poker..."  "When playing blackjack...."  Not only did dd not know any of the answers; I didn't know any of the answers.  How many spaces are on a roulette wheel?  Are 1/2 of them red & 1/2 black?  Can you bet on a color & not a number?  Thank goodness for the internet where we looked up how all those games work.

 

Amber in SJ

 

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Ds10 is a voracious reader, and he reads very quickly. So quickly that he got annoyed with read alouds and refused to participate anymore when he was 6 because I read too slowly. Fast forward 4 years, and the other night at dinner he was telling us about a video game he had started and commented that in the game dragons are the "hair-bringers" of doom. :huh: :lol:

 

When we finally stopped laughing we explained the correct pronunciation of harbingers, and talked about words dh and I pronounced incorrectly because we had only read them and not heard them aloud so he would know it is a common thing for kids who read a lot.

Terry Pratchett would LOVE " Hair-bringers of Doom!" :)

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hahha--these are good!

 

This doesn't really fit, but the "hair-bringers" reminds me that for years and years, I thought the name of the author of the Little House books was 

Laura IGnalls Wilder. My eye just always read it wrong, I guess. 

 

I also thought the name Daphne was pronounced "Daffeen." I was so disappointed to find it really pronounced Daf knee, which seemed much less pretty to me! 

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:lol:  :lol:   I was a crazy reader when I was a kid and I can still remember two words I mispronounced in my head every time I read them. Pneumonia- something like Pu-moan-ia. And in one book there was a main character named Geoffrey. I had never seen that spelling before and thought it was Gee-off-rey.  I still silently chuckle when I read that name.

I still think that when I read it.... :leaving:

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We had a problem with taking attendance at swim class. They heard their names called and said, "What?" I motioned at them to raise their hands so they did... and left them up until their instructor came by and helped them put them down about a minute later.

 

I was just telling my dd9 about this the other day when explaining why she has to read aloud to me still.  My word that I remember mis-pronouncing was facade.  I pronounced it fa-kade with a long a in the second syllable.

 

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I was just telling my dd9 about this the other day when explaining why she has to read aloud to me still.  My word that I remember mis-pronouncing was facade.  I pronounced it fa-kade with a long a in the second syllable.

 

Me too!  My other word was naive.  I always said it as "nAve".  I remember when it finally clicked, I laughed out loud.  :)

 

This happened last night with dd15.  She didn't want to loan her tea mug to her sister because sister wanted to put coffee in it.  She used to have a plastic one that definitely took on coffee flavor, however now she has a stainless steel mug.  I told her this saying that it shouldn't stain the mug.  It took a few seconds and then all of a sudden she said, "Ohhhh!  Is THAT why stainless steel is called stainless?!!!"  We all had a good laugh about it.  :D

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Oh, I thought of another one.  When we were watching a video about the Civil Rights movement my older son asked me why they had cars.  I was like "why wouldn't some people have cars in 1960?" It turns out that he assumed that the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement were either the same thing or happened right next to each other.  That was a good laugh.  The downfall of teaching mostly ancient and middle ages history up until that point. 

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My (voracious reader) 8yo just KNEW the "y boat" in the Boat Alphabet book was going to be a "yatch-et" . . . hahahaha! He was right . . . sorta-kinda.

 

He does enjoy working on those "anna-LO-gees" I bought for them this year, though. (I did explain that "analogies" does not rhyme with "pierogies." He very seriously told me that since some people we know do speak with a fairly heavy accent, that he felt that that word was also up for some interpretation. I countered that with the observation that native American speakers are more limited in their - shall we say - "applied pronunciations" - but he was not falling for that one. I guess he'll figure it out eventually.)

 

Home schooling cracks me up, most days.

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 Additionally while six packs are a bit self explanatory I really wasn't sure how many beers were in a case (or how much whiskey was in a fourth either for that matter). 

 

I think that would be a fifth of whiskey!  It's 750ml.

 

I remember my teenaged daughter asking once why veterinarians were so often out of work. She'd just seen a man on a corner with an "out of work vet" sign. 

 

Here's a thread on a similar topic.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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My daughter had a toy battery run out. I told her she had to wait until I went to the store to buy more triple A's. When she saw the battery she called it a crazy battery. She obviously thought changing the battery meant I was going to

plug it into the wall. :)

 

A couple years ago DS1 came to tell me that we needed more F/N batteries when I was at the store.   :huh:

 

It turns out he had left a toy on (again) and when he mentioned it to DH, DH responded "we need MORE F'in batteries?"   :lol:   Well, at least DH censored himself, lol.  I've joked about F/N batteries ever since.

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A couple years ago DS1 came to tell me that we needed more F/N batteries when I was at the store.   :huh:

 

It turns out he had left a toy on (again) and when he mentioned it to DH, DH responded "we need MORE F'in batteries?"   :lol:   Well, at least DH censored himself, lol.  I've joked about F/N batteries ever since.

 

Totally an aside but that reminds me of the conversation that happened at the afterschool care last night.  I was sitting next to 2 girls playing 'Life' on the computer.  The one got her career and it was an athlete, only girl #2 called it an "auth-lete" (sounds like author), so I looked at here and said "Auth??" and she says "no, I mean Ath, she's and Ath"  yup, rhymes with a$$.  Well child number 3 was walking by and heard her and then ran for the other teacher to tell her that girl #2 was swearing calling girl #1 a bad word.  All because of an "auth-lete" lol  We were still chuckling about it today.

 

As for kids not knowing stuff, I recently realized that ds10 did not know the days of the week or the months of the year, he now does as does dd6, but couldn't tell you what comes before or after a particular month without singing the whole song first that I used to teach it :) 

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My dd8 still doesn't know how to spell our last name.  It is rather long, but still...

Neither one of the girls know their address or phone number.  I've tried over and over, but for some reason it just doesn't stick with them.  And now we're about to move and I'll have to start all over!

 

Lana

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Dd4 is really very advanced at the moment in many areas including reading, math, science, etc...I send her to a non-academic preschool for six hours per week, mostly to play and do lots of messy things with other kids.

I had a giggle with my hubby because the preschool sent home a 'report card'. The only skill she had missed was in not properly locating her SHOULDERS!

We thought this was hysterical as the kid can name all the major bones in the body, and we play a game singing "head, shoulders, knees and toes" in four different languages. Hysterical that is, until daddy asked her to point to her shoulders, lol! She vaguely gestured somewhere in the vicinity of her upper arms:)

Guess we should slow down the game instead of trying to see how increasingly fast we can sing it...

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My 5 yo spotted a cigarette box on the ground the other day and yelled, "Look! I found a box of camel food!"

 

Hahaha!!! That reminds me of the time my oldest (then about 6-7) saw a beer display at the grocery store. He got so excited and pointed and said look there's the football juice!! It should be noted that we are lds and no beer had ever been drunk in his presence. This was totally the fault of advertising during games ;)

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Ds16 just started a course at TAFE (I think something like USA Community Collage?). After the second ay I asked him if the tutor asked lots of questions, he replied Yep. I asked him is he able to answer any of the questions, YEP. (good, I thought). Then Ds said that he answered all the questions and the tutor asked him to let the others have a chance to answer some questions. I asked ds does he raise his had before giving the answers. he gave me a funny look and said no, are you meant to do that? (Oh dear, Oh dear I never taught him classroom manners  of raising hand before answering a question). At least he isn't as shy as I though he was going to be.

 

He is the youngest student. the next youngest student is 26 most of the class are in their 30s 

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When my twins were in preschool, I had a chat with the teacher one day because she was concerned that they didn't know how old they were. Up to that point (they were almost 3), i'd never thought to tell them! Oops!

 

My youngest twisted her ankle one day and told me she hurt her "foot wrist" -- good logical thinking anyway, right? :D

 

Since we started history with the ancients and are moving forward from there, they have a LOT of gaps where PS 1st graders have learned some American history by now. I try to fill in the culturally important bits & pieces around national holidays and such, but there are still some "interesting" conversations with kids & adults from traditional schools. At least they're getting to practice the Pledge of Allegiance in scouts (oh, and there was my son's British preschool teacher, and the period when he would insist that our national anthem was the Star Spangled Ban-NAH whenever I'd say "Ban-NER"). :blush:

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My 3yo doesn't have gaps. He has inappropriate knowledge.

 

I don't drink wine, I rarely drink beer.  Me likes my coconut rum.  So I started making a drink last night. And my 3yo likes to observe in the kitchen and make sure things are done right.

 

"Ooh! Now you put in the red juice!  Now you put in the pineapple! Now you mix it aaaaaallllll up!  Mommy, why do you need more of the black bottle? You like more of the black bottle? Is that better now?"

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My 3yo doesn't have gaps. He has inappropriate knowledge.

 

I don't drink wine, I rarely drink beer. Me likes my coconut rum. So I started making a drink last night. And my 3yo likes to observe in the kitchen and make sure things are done right.

 

"Ooh! Now you put in the red juice! Now you put in the pineapple! Now you mix it aaaaaallllll up! Mommy, why do you need more of the black bottle? You like more of the black bottle? Is that better now?"

LOL! I've overheard mine saying, "I do school and exercise so I can grow big and strong to drink beer like Daddy!"

 

On the subject of inappropriate knowledge and mispronounced words, I don't allow my kids to play violent video games. Really! But we have a Halo-themed strategy board game where you build different maps, roll for weapons and moves, try to "capture" the other team or flag, etc. They play this game almost every day, and it's the basis of their pretend play. For example, Master Chief just saved all the endangered species from the African deserts yesterday with the Kratt brothers!

 

Anyway, DS4 kept trying to get a "plasmin" rifle in the game. DS5 would correct him, saying, "It's plasma! Plas-MUH!" DS4: "There's no such thing as a MUH, it's plas-MIN!"

 

We're not quite to the schwa in phonics yet.

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