Socratic educator Michael Strong with five year old Alana
Educator Michael Strong asks five-year-old Alana questions about time, seasons, and numbers. She describes winning at chess, surfing, and her weekly schedule of school and jiu-jitsu. Together they figure out she was born in 2012 and her brother Logan in 2016.
Chapters
At long last.
Hi.
Let's go outside. Hello, Alana. Technical difficulty.
How are you?
I'm well, I'm well. You are so polite. I love how you ask how I am, Alana. What happened this week while your dad's getting the video going?
Last night I was playing chess and I won.
You won? With whom were you playing chess?
Excuse me?
With whom were you playing chess?
My neighbor.
How old was your neighbor?
I do not know yet.
Older than you or younger than you?
Older, because he's a— because he's an adult.
He's an adult and you beat him?
Even though it was my first time.
Good for you, good for you. Do you play chess with your dad sometimes?
No, only checkers.
So how did you learn the moves for chess?
My neighbor taught me how.
Oh, do you like chess?
Yes, I do.
I like chess. Chess and checkers are both games. Chess is even harder than checkers.
Yep, but I tried— I learned it fast, actually.
Good for you. I'm very glad to hear that. What else happened to your week this last week?
I went surfing.
Ooh, do you like surfing?
Yes, even though it's fall.
Is the water cold?
Only when I first get in, but not always.
I bet you are just so strong and full of energy you can deal with the cold water.
Yep.
So I was wondering about— we've talked before about what you remember from when you were younger. I'm wondering, what, what does the word future mean? What is— what, what does it mean when we say something is going to happen in the future?
Like something good or bad is gonna happen in the, in the future, in the future.
Yeah. What does it mean?
It's something gonna happen. Something bad is gonna happen or good's gonna happen one day.
Okay, that, that sounds, that sounds right. So can you imagine what tomorrow is going to be like, or you have no idea what tomorrow is?
I have no idea.
Do you go to school tomorrow?
Um, no, I don't, because I'm going to start after that day tomorrow.
Okay, do you know which days you go to school?
Yes.
Which days do you go to school?
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Ah, that's wonderful. I think 3 days of school sounds about right. Do you think that's too much or too little?
Perfect.
Perfect. And what is today?
Today is Sunday.
That's exactly right.
So tomorrow I don't have school.
I'm very impressed. I was trying to check to see to what extent you understood your week. It sounds like you understand your week pretty well. So do you also, separate from school, do you have other classes that you take? Like martial arts? You do karate?
Well, I do jiu-jitsu, like, separate from that, but it's after school.
It's after school? Which days?
Um, like, every day except the weekends.
Okay. And then do you have any other classes, or that's it? Just School and jiu-jitsu?
School, jiu-jitsu, and gymnastics.
Oh, when is— when is gymnastics?
Um, probably before school or after school.
Okay.
On days I don't have jiu-jitsu.
Sounds like you're a pretty busy person.
Yeah.
So would you say every week— is every week pretty similar, or are your weeks pretty different from each other?
My weeks are like pretty different because— but summer and fall are kind of the same.
What makes summer— go ahead.
Because I went like surfing a lot in the summer and half in the fall.
I see. So every week during the school year you have jiu-jitsu plus gymnastics plus school. But other than that, what you do is very different from week to week?
Yep, it's probably a little bit different.
Would you say that you play with Logan almost every day?
Yes, I play with him almost every day.
How about reading? Do you read almost every day? Yes. What are you reading these days?
Charlotte's Web. The Warrior Kid.
And are you liking these books?
Yes.
Good. So I'm thinking of the future. So you know week to week what you do. Do you know where you're going to be at Christmas?
No.
Okay. Do you know at all what next year is going to be like?
No.
Do you go to school during the summertime?
Mm, I don't.
Not sure?
Yeah, I'm not sure.
You know, some kids go to school in summer and some kids don't. Do you know kids that don't go to school in the summer?
No.
Okay, um, how about Thanksgiving? Do you guys do anything for Thanksgiving?
Excuse me?
Do you know what Thanksgiving is?
Yes, it's like when you draw cards, but actually hearts, then you cut them out for like Thanksgiving because For all of the people that did to you nice things.
I see. And how about New Year's? Do you know what New Year's is?
New Year's is when we celebrate— wait, what do we celebrate again?
So every year there's a new year. So just like you are now 5 years old, you have a birthday every year, right?
Yes.
So in a way, we say there's a new year every year, and it's like the new year has its very own birthday, except there's no person. It's just we say it's a new year. Do you know what year this is right now? What we name— what the name is for the year right now?
Yes, fall.
Okay, that's what season it is. Have you ever heard 2017?
Yes.
What does that mean?
That means like part of the date.
That's part of the date. That's correct. Do you know what year you were born in?
Uh, no.
So I'm gonna do some math. If this year is 2017 and you are 5 years old, then we could figure out what year you were born in. By subtracting 5 from 2017. Does that make sense?
Yes.
And because the 2000 part is tricky, we could just focus on the 17. Do you know what 17 minus 5 is?
No.
Do you do subtraction at all?
I do.
Sometimes. So what's 17 minus 1?
17 minus 1 is 17, 8.
I would think 17 minus 1 would be 1 less than 17. What's the number just before 17? 16. Exactly right. So if— and, and Logan, is Logan still just 1 year old or is he almost 2 Is he 2 yet?
No, he's still 1 years old.
Okay.
But he's 21 months.
Okay, he's 21 months. I bet he was born in the year before 2016. And so what's 16 minus 1?
17?
No, no, that's 16 plus 1. We're going the other direction. What's one less than 16?
15.
15. So if we did our math correctly, Logan was probably born in 2015. You want to check with your parents and see if— ask if Logan was born in 2015?
Sure, I'll try call them.
Okay. Dad?
When was Logan born?
Uh, January 11th.
Oh, January 11th.
But what year? Um, ask him what year.
Dad, what year?
Last year.
Last year.
2016 or 2015?
Probably 2016, probably.
Okay, so 2016 actually makes sense because, um, yeah, he's not yet 2. If he was 2, he would have been born in 2015, but he's 1, so that was the year before 2017. So that makes it 2016. So ask if he was born January 11, 2016.
Dad, is Logan born in January 2016? Was Logan born in January 11, 2016?
Yeah, 2016. Logan's almost 2. So Alana, we just figured out the year that Logan was born. He was born in the year 2016. Does that make sense? Yes. So do you want to figure out what year you were born in, or you don't want to figure that out?
I do.
You do? So what is 2017 minus 5?
I still do not know.
Okay, no problem. So we subtracted, we subtracted, we— so Logan was 1, so 2017 minus 1 is 2016, right? Yes. So 17 minus 5 is How about going the other direction? Can you add 5 to numbers? Yes. So what, let's do, what's 1 5?
1 5 equals—
Do you know what 5 1 is?
Let me guess. 6?
That's right. How about 2 5?
2 5? 7?
How about 3 5?
3 5 is— 8!
How about 4 5?
9?
5 5?
10!
How about 6 5?
6 5 is— um, it's a hard one and a tricky one. I don't know.
Do you think it's more than 5 5 or less than 5 5?
More.
How much more?
One more.
And so what's the number after 10?
11.
So 6 5 is probably 11, you think? Does that make sense?
Yes, it does.
Okay, in which case, what is 7 5?
7 5 is 12, probably.
Probably. And within, what is 8 5? 13. What is 9 plus 5?
14.
What is 10 plus 5?
10 plus 5— 15.
All right, good job. What is 11 plus 5?
Fifty-one.
Well, if 10 plus 5 is 15, and 11 plus 5 is 1 more, what is the number above 15?
Fifty-one.
After 15 comes 51?
Yes.
I usually think, I count 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
16.
Does that make more sense?
Yes.
Okay, in which case, what is 12 plus 5?
12 plus 5? Wow! Shh!
If 11 plus 5 was 16 and 12 plus 5 is one more, What should it be?
16.
So after 15 came 16. What's the number after 16?
I do not know.
I usually count 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and so forth.
17.
There we go, 17. So, so does it sound right that 12 plus 5 is 17?
Yes.
So the way subtraction works is subtraction is the opposite of addition. So if 12 plus 5 is 17, then 17 minus 5 equals 12. Okay?
Okay.
And then if This year is 2017, and if you are 5 years old, I bet you were born in the year 2012.
Me too.
You want to check with your dad, ask if you were born in the year 2012?
Yes. Dad, was I born in the 2012?
You were born in 2012. That's correct. Hey, Alana, we figured out the year you were born in.
Yay!
So now you know what year you were born in. Remember when you, you said 2017 is part of the date that you write down? That's correct. And the year you were born— again, every new year we give— create a new year. The year you were born, at the end of every date, would be 2012. So on your birth certificate, when you were born, there was a piece of paper that was issued that was— that's called your birth certificate for the day you're born. What's your birth date? What day of the year are you born? Um, August something. Yes.
I forget.
Okay, so you don't know your birth date?
But we just figured it out.
We know the year of your birth, but there's also a month and a day.
A month and a day?
Yeah, I think— I, I could be wrong, but I think you're born in August. When I ask your dad what your birth date is?
Yes, wait, when my birthday's?
Yes, what the date of your birthday is.
All I know is that it's August 17th.
Ah, so you do know it! Brilliant! So August 17th, 2012 was the day that you were born.
Oh!
So now you know about the day you were born, okay? Yay! Absolutely. Well, I should let you go have a really fun day. What's the most exciting thing you're going to do today today?
I still don't know, I'll find out.
Okay, well have fun and happy 5-year-old from August 17th, 2012.
Thank you.
You're welcome, bye-bye.
Bye.
