YD is five and goes to gymnastics with seven other girls. At the start, the teacher and an assistant stand facing the girls who are in two rows of four (YD in the front row). The teacher and assistant will do something, like standing on one leg, and all the girls follow. And seven girls stand on one leg, and YD stands on the other. Then the teacher swaps legs and so do the girls with YD remaining the odd one out. This always happens – bless her.
A few nights ago, YD and me were building a meccano quad bike. I put the pieces in place, hold the spanner on the nut and YD turns the allen key clockwise in the bolt. Occasionally, we make a mistake and have to undo the work by turning the allen key anti-clockwise. And YD gets the direction right every time. Not just when it’s facing her, but when it’s turned upside and around, she still knows which way to turn the allen key. Far better than me.
So how can she be so good at that, but so bad at the gymnastics warm-up?
So I go back to watching her at gymnastics and do you know what? She’s right and all the other girls are wrong!
The teacher says, “Lift up your right leg” and lifts up her right leg. All the girls are facing her and react as if they were a mirror, and lift up their left legs. Only YD lifts up the opposite leg to the one she sees being lifted up, that is her right leg. Do you see what I mean?
When the teacher says look right, she looks towards the trampoline end of the hall and all the girls look the same way. But YD looks the other direction, toward the cricket nets, which is her right because she’s facing the teacher.
She’s a genius. And quite happy to go against the prevailing attitudes of her peers.
I’ve no idea what this really means, but I thought it worth sharing.
It means you are a proud dad and rightly so,
She is the only one who is listening properly the others just copy what they see, not what they hear
Good for her! In particular, I would be proud of her for not just copying her friends.
I think I would also tell the teacher.
Yep, tell the teacher. SHe needs to change how she instructs the group - she is he one at fault.
But well doen to your YD to have the courage to do what she knows is correct.
How proud must you be?
I would be too. What a brilliant girl - hope you told her.
Oh, and with nuts and bolts? Right tighty left loosey.
She sounds flipping fabulous
Please do let us know what the gymnastic teachers reaction is when you tell her.
I'll tell the teacher, but there's no gymnastics next week because of half term.
To be fair to the teacher, it's just a warm up and I imagine as long as they do both legs, both arms, look over both shoulders, etc, then she doesn't mind what order they do them in.
When they do things like walking along a bench, then the teacher goes first and they can watch her from behind so they are seeing the right leg as the right leg.
Oh, I'd be thrilled. Not at the genius part (well, a bit) but at the being willing to go against her peers confident that she is right... that's amazing and I hope she never loses that
Indeed she is because left/right and clockwise/anticlockwise confuse me even now (less so than when I was a child though!) - I thought teachers who did this kind of thing would move to their left, but say "right" so that whether the kids are mirror image copying or following the spoken instructions, what they do is the same.
I think it's great that she's doing it right when everyone else is doing it wrong, because this shows a real strength of character and self confidence. (in addition to being astute enough to have done it correctly)
It's how they teach/instruct aerobics/zumba Daedy so that non-genuis' like me know which way they're going!lol
Not to detract though 'cos she sounds like a delightful little marvel to me