Either / Or

I’ll try to keep summarising our P4C lessons for the moment.  I think it is interesting to see the ideas.  And maybe later on it will be interesting to look back on them.

Today, after our maths times tables, we did another either/or activity.  I can’t find this one online, though I did get it from the same place as the previous ones.  (Have I said that I think that The Philosophy Man is brilliant?  He has got so many lessons already prepared, and openly, encouragingly available.  It is so easy to skim through them and pick one to form the basis of my lessons.)  This is what we did:

Which are better, dogs or cats?

Both Mulan and Miya immediately said cats.  I first asked Miya why she thought cats.  Miya said that cats like to cuddle you, and are very cute.  And dogs don’t cuddle?  No.  I asked Mulan if she agreed.  She said yes.  And dogs push you over.  Are all dogs not so cute?  What about the pictures of the dogs that we have on our playroom wall (Papillion dogs)?  They are cute too.  I wouldn’t mind a Snowy dog (Snowy was the dog I had when I was a child, and looked similar to a Papillion).  Small ones are okay.  So, how do small, cute dogs compare with cats?  They are about the same.  Just not big dogs?  Yes.

Which are better, boys or girls?

Silence, for a long time.  Is it too difficult to decide?  Mmmm.  Girls are better (said more tentatively).  Why?  Because boys are too bustle-y.  And girls aren’t?  Not so much.  Are all boys bustle-y or most?  Most.  How about girls?  Are any girls bustle-y?  Some are.  So some boys are and some girls are?  Most boys are, but just some girls are.

Miya agreed.

If we put your brain in my body and my brain in your body, which would be you, where your brain is, or where your body is?

My body.  Why?  Because that is what people would see me as.  What if someone phoned you?  Your body/my brain answers.  It would sound like your squeaky voice talking, but it would be my ideas and thoughts being said.  Would people think it was you or me?  Some parts they would think were me and some they would think were you.

Is ibloggdyobdebog a real word?   If yes, what does it mean.

No.  And if yes, it doesn’t mean anything.  (At this point we were all laughing hard, and trying to pronounce it—i-blog-dee-ob-dee-bog.  Then Miya tapped me on the head with the pencil she was holding, while saying the word.)  Is that what it means, “hit Daddy on the head?”  (Lots more laughing.)  What if in our family, we all start using ibloggdyobdebog to mean hit Daddy on the head?  Would it then be a real word?  No.  How are real words created?  Was there someone at the beginning who decided what they mean?  (Thoughtful silence.)  How many people need to use the word before it becomes a real word?  Everyone.  If everyone in our apartment building used ibloggdyobdebog in that way, would it become a real word?  No.  It has to be everyone?  Yes, everyone in the world.  What about the word ni hao?  Lots of people in New Zealand don’t know what that means.  Does that mean that ni hao is not a real word?  All English speakers need to know the word before it is a real word (in English).

Is it better to be a child or a grown-up?

I asked Miya first.  She said a child.  Mulan agreed.  I asked Miya why.  She said because children play.  Mulan agreed.  But I play with you, too.  But you also need to do housework.  And you don’t?  No.  But I also get to be the boss.  Isn’t that good, too?  Or not as good as playing?  It isn’t as good as playing.

Are you the same you you were when you were two?

Yes.  Why?  Because I am still called Mulan.  When Gugu was younger, she changed her name.  We can go to the government office and fill out a form and then we get official paperwork that changes our name.  What name would you change to?  Mula.  If you changed your name to Mula, would you still be the same?  Yes.  Why?  Because I would still look the same.  (At this point Miya, who was sitting on my desk, looked like she might fall off.  So I warned Miya to be careful and not fall on her face.)  What if Miya fell off the desk and fell on her face and squashed her face flat (and we also changed her name)?  Would it still be the same Miya?  Yes.  Why?  Because her body would still look the same.  What if it was ten years later?  And Miya would be 13.  Yes, oh dear, a teenager.  And I would be 16.  Almost 17, oh dear, driving cars, and partying and boyfriends!  At 13, Miya would have grown a lot, and her body would look very different.  Would flat-faced, name-changed, different-shaped-body Miya still be the same person?  Yes.

Is the hole in a donut part of a donut?

No.  Do you know what a donut is?  Yes (of course).  Miya said she couldn’t eat a donut because it is a nut.  Mulan and I laughed and explained that it was called a donut but it wasn’t a nut.

Can anything last forever?  What about nothing?

No.  Nothing last forever.  If nothing lasts forever, then does that mean that something (the nothing) lasts forever?  Haha, no.

Is there anything everyone thinks is beautiful?

Yes.  What?  Me!  I asked Miya if Mulan is beautiful.  She said no.  So, Miya doesn’t think you are beautiful.  Do you have any other examples?  Miya!  I asked Miya if she is beautiful, and she said yes.  So, we all agree that there is something that everyone thinks is beautiful, and that something is Miya?  Yes (laughing).  (Sometimes solving deep philosophical questions is easy!)

What makes someone a good person, following the rules or making people happy?

Both.  What if there are two people, one follows the rules but doesn’t care about trying to make people happy, the other tries to make people happy but doesn’t care about following the rules.  Who is the better person?  They are both equally good.  Neither is better?  Neither is better.  Bobbie (in the book The Railway Children, which we are currently reading together) wants to make people happy.