To have got to the age of 37 and I'm learning things from a 9 year old?

[Gertrudeisgerman]

DS2 (9) has just told me why the sewer system was introduced. Previously, tap water from the Thames contained human waste so they introduced sewers. I had no idea. They are currently introducing a new sewer system in London too, which according to DS2 'looks nice but won't stay like that for long.'

Why am I learning this stuff from a 9 year old? AIBU to be masters level educated but know fuck all about basic stuff like this?

We live in Yorkshire. I don't know how the child knows so much about the Thames anyway.

Potable water and treatment of wastewater is now on the science curriculum.
I'd assume that's why as I certainly didn't learn about it at school either!

I have a MSc though Frogs you'd have thought it would have come up!

I have a feeling that all the worrying we do about screentime is taking away from the fact that children are still very good at learning.

We live in Yorkshire. I don't know how the child knows so much about the Thames anyway

Not sure what to say about that comment. Were you expecting him to only learn about Yorkshire?

When I was in primary school one of our day trips was to the local sewage works!

No, of course I don't expect him only to learn about Yorkshire but I didn't expect him to know so much about the Thames.

I don't know why, I guess it's a pretty important piece of history. I wonder if this is where the sewerage system started? In London?

I'm 34 and I learn things from my 8yo DDs every day! They learn so many things at school that I would never have known if they didn't teach me. It's quite impressive really!

I remember explaining the working stuff of a blast furnace to my grandma when I was about 14 and she told me her stepfather had been a blast furnace foreman in the 40s. She was agog! Ahh lovely memory to have ☺️

I know what you mean. I used to worry about my son never reading books or newspapers till he explained the Middle East to me. I think he was 13. He's now 18 and he's just told us we shouldn't be keeping tomatoes in the fridge. He also said why but I've already forgotten.

Just wait 'til you have a 15yo doing gcse's.

Ruby we went to Alton Towers for our school trips.

I remember watching Aunt Mabel on Come Outside go down the sewer. It actually looked cleaner down there than I anticipated.

Maybe you learnt about it, but just don't remember?
I vaguely remember I learnt something about sewer system in primary, trip to waterworks etc., in primary.(Different country though.)

We've just been on holiday with friends and whilst there our 9y godson was educating us all. He's like a little sponge for history and was so knowledgable about Romans and roman mythology (his topic at school recently) - he taught all four of us adults plus the two teen girls there lots of facts we didn't know.

Children take in so much. Hopefully they can retain a lot of it.

I did Social and Economic history for GCSE so we did a lot about infrastructure and I still find it fascinating. Not sure what you thought sewers were for before though!

Floisme please can you find out? I always put my tomatoes in the fridge.

I have a MSc though Frogs you'd have thought it would have come up!

Depends on the subject, surely? If it's psychology, then I wouldn't expect London sewers to feature.

It's due to a chemical they give off and the impact on other foods.

Ds (10) is a grammar ninja compared to his older siblings and me. I thought I was fine as I knew noun/proper noun/adjective/adverb/verb and conjunction but he knows way more than that.

I wonder if this is where the sewerage system started? In London?
Didn't the Ancient Romans build sewage systems that are still working? When I was in Segovia, Spain, they celebrated something liked 1800 years since the aqueduct's construction and, it was still capable of carrying water.

Gertrude I'll ask him again when he gets up. It may be a few hours.

They learn different things in different ways.
I'm enjoying learning all over again from my 9 year old.
I won't be when his maths overtakes my level ☹️️

Ah thanks Titty

We've been trying to calm a crying baby for the last hour. Put him in his bouncy chair to make up a bottle and our 3yo gently rocked and sang him to sleep. She is much better at it than me!

The ancient romans had sewerage systems? I'm on a self imposed google ban so I'll have to go to the reference library to look this stuff up.

I think we will have been taught a lot of stuff like this but if you don't retain it, then...that's too depresssing to contemplate.

My five year old is much better than I am at identifying plants and trees etc. Every time I ask him 'how do you know that?' he says he learnt it in school. I have no recollection of ever learning stuff like that in school, but who knows, maybe I did and it's just so long ago that I've forgotten? I vaguely remember learning about hips and haws and the teacher bringing in the berries for us to look at, but that is all I can remember about identifying plants!

I have an MSc too (if that matters) and I've learnt loads from Do You Know and Nina and the Neurons! (C-Beebies, DS is 3!).

Just goes to show, you never stop learning