From the Mouths of Babes

One of the things I have been doing in my classroom this year to encourage spontaneous verbal communication between students is show and tell. The kids love this and cannot wait until it is their week to bring a toy to show and tell their peers about. A couple of weeks ago, one of the boys brought a little girl fairy, that was a barbie type toy. After he told us a few things about it, it was the other students turn to ask him questions about his toy. The following conversation took place, and although I do not agree with it, I still find it hilarious and worthy of sharing.


A: showing the fairy. " Any Crystalballs?" (For some reason, no matter how many times we correct him this is how he asks his friends if there are any questions).

Other Student "Does it drive?" (This is a very common question, that is asked at least once per toy, even though it is obvious that the object being shown does not have any wheels, or any of the other necessary tools to make it so an object can drive).

A: In complete shock that this question would even be asked "NO! Women's DON'T drive!"

All the adults in the room, which were all women and one of which happened to include A's mom, who had driven A to school that day, busted up laughing. I guess even young children pick up on stereotypes at a young age.