昨晚给儿子洗澡,他盯着盆里的水看了一会儿,忽然抬头问我:Why can we see water?(为什么我们能看见水?) 又一个莫名其妙的问题!我随口答道:Our eyes help us see it.(有眼睛就看得见啦。) 儿子接着又问:Why can't we see wind then?(那么为什么看不见风呢?) 我愣了一下,一时不知道怎么回答,只好说:Because wind is clearer than water.(因为风比水透明。) 等儿子睡着后,我又想起他的问题。如果说:“因为水是液体,风是气体”,他肯定又会问为什么看得见液体看不见气体。对于一个刚满三岁九个月的孩子,该怎么给他分析呢?
育儿书上说,孩子到了一定的年龄阶段,会对事物的因果关系特别感兴趣。不过,我们家也没等着这个阶段自动到来,在教孩子说话时就有意识地问个为什么。例如看到工地上有辆推土机,就故意若有所思地自言自语:“Why is there a bulldozer here?”隔几秒钟又恍然大悟似的高兴地说:“Oh, I know. Because the construction workers need to push the rubble away!” 因此,骏骏学会说话没多久,就特别多问题。例如晚上街灯亮了,我们两父子有这样一段对话:
Why are the street lights on? Because it's getting dark. Why is it getting dark? Because the sun is setting. Why is the sun setting? Because the earth is spinning? Why is the earth spinning? ......