Socratic educator Michael Strong with five year old Alana

I'm at a beach, but I forget what it's called. Oceanside, I think.

All right, all right. I think your dad said you had ridden the train this morning.

Excuse me?

Your dad said you rode a train this morning.

We did take the train.

How was that?

It was really fun, but we had to stop a couple times for other stops and a marathon.

Got it, got it. Did the train go pretty fast?

It did. It went a little fast.

Would you say it goes twice as fast as you can run?

I think I can run a little bit faster than that, but it was a very, very long train.

Do you think you can run faster than a train?

No, I don't think so. I can probably run to the half of it.

Okay, but do you think the trains go faster than you can run?

I think they run fast. I think they trail faster than me.

Okay, um, do you think they go twice as fast as you?

I think they go 3, 3 past me.

3 times as fast? Do you think trains are faster than cars or a car is faster than trains?

I think a race car is probably faster than a train.

How about a regular car?

A regular car? I don't know.

Okay. How about you versus Logan? Can you run faster than Logan?

I can.

You think twice as fast or 3 times as fast or more?

Uh, probably 4 or 3.

3 or 4 times as fast? How would we measure that? How would we figure out if you run 3 times as fast or 4 times as fast as Logan?

I don't know, but maybe one day I could measure it, how fast I could run with Logan.

Okay, so that sounds like a really good idea to me. How would you measure it exactly? What would you measure?

We, we could run together, have a race, and see who's running faster.

Okay, and so, you know, you have a race, you see who runs faster, but then how do you see if you are running 3 times as fast or 4 times as fast?

I look back and see if he's behind me or something.

Okay, and so suppose he's behind you. What would we measure to see how much faster you're running than him? Um, we measure how tall he is?

Yeah, maybe measure how tall he is, but I know he's taller than me.

But how would measuring how tall he is tell us how much faster you run than he does.

We could like— we can measure how fast we run, or we can like measure How long we can run for.

Okay, those are both great ideas. How do you measure how fast somebody runs?

You can have a race between your brother or your sister.

Okay, so suppose you do that, but would that tell you— would that tell you if— well, first of all, what does it mean to run 3 times as fast as somebody?

To run like 3, 3 whatever somethings that you could think of to run as fast, faster than them.

So let me see if I understand you correctly. So suppose, um, I'm trying to think of something, uh, so suppose you have like a a volleyball net. You know how big a volleyball net is, right?

Yes.

So suppose, um, you run all the way to the end of the volleyball net, um, or maybe you run 3 volleyball nets long and, um, Logan only runs 1 volleyball net long. Does that mean that you would run 3 times as fast as he did?

Yes, like run faster than all those balls. I could run 3 times faster than him.

Okay, I was thinking of distance, not like the volleyball itself, but the net. You know, the net is a certain length, so I was thinking, um, if you could run the distance of 3 volleyball nets and he would only run 1 volleyball net, I'm asking if that would mean you run 3 times as fast as him.

Excuse me, I couldn't really hear you.

That's okay. I'm wondering if you ran 3 times as far in the same amount of time, does that mean you run 3 times as fast?

I don't know, but maybe the distance could measure how far we're apart from each other.

Okay, so we say we have you and Logan at a starting line and we say, "On your mark, get set, go," and you both run as fast as you can, and then we see how far you run and how far he runs?

Yes, like when he stops to take a break, that's it for him. But when I stop to take a break, if I'm longer or shorter than him, I win or I lose.

I see. And you think that if you guys both started at the same time and from the same point that you would run farther than he would? Um, you think he would?

He could, or I could. I don't know who— I don't know who could win or lose.

Okay, so he might actually run faster than you?

He might.

Okay, so that's different. Uh, I didn't know that he could run faster.

He didn't. He doesn't when he's little, but maybe when he's older he can.

Oh, I see. I see. At what age do you think he might be able to run faster than you?

When we're adults, that's for sure.

Probably, uh, why do you think as an adult you think he would run faster than you?

Well, because when the goats run, they usually go fast. So I haven't seen run fast before, but I know they can run fast.

Okay. So I'm thinking maybe you guys should do an experiment and see right now, do you think you run faster than he does? I do.

Because he's only 2.

Do you think you run a lot faster than he does or just a little bit?

I think a lot.

So do you still think you run 2 times as fast or 3 times as fast?

I think 3 times as fast.

And now do you have a way to measure that?

Yes, now I do.

Okay, what's your way to measure that?

Excuse me, I cannot really—

What's your way to measure if you run 3 times as fast as he does?

I could put 3 things in a line or more, then I could race, and when he stops, even in the middle or at the end, I'm either in front of him or the back of him, because if I'm in front of him, I win, but if I'm in the back of him, He wins.

Okay, is he out there on the beach with you?

Well, right now we're on a playground.

I see, okay, but does he play out in the playground with you?

He does, but not really like play with me.

Okay, well maybe at some point you and he can have a race and you can try to measure to see how fast, how much faster you run than he does, okay?

Okay.

Okay, I'm gonna let you go play. Have a wonderful day, okay?

Okay, I hope you have a wonderful day too.

Thanks. Bye-bye, Alana.