rick and deborah farrington

melanie, i'm curious as be what he will grow up to be! very impressive
story! thanks for sharing.

Shimokawa Family wrote:

> From: Shimokawa Family <sfamily@...>
>
> An Obsession with Trains, an Obsession with Life
>
> By Melanie Shimokawa
>
> Everything that comes out of my two-year-old*s mouth is about trains.
> Often, when he is just staring out into space, I ask him what*s on his
> mind. "Trains!" he answers. Of course. He knows everything there is
> to know about Japanese trains. He can recognize any Japanese train just
> from a simple picture. When he asks me to draw trains for him, he often
> has to correct me. "No, Mama," he says, "the yellow Seibu-Shinjuku line
> trains with the GRAY doors have TWO pantographs every OTHER car. The
> ones with the yellow doors only have ONE." Oh, right, sorry. (But
> that*s pretty advanced math for a two year old. Especially when he
> tries to figure out how many pantographs are on a certain train with a
> certain number of cars.) He spends a lot of time drawing trains.
> They*re not always recognizable, but he works and works at it until he*s
> drawn every detail he can think of. The lines aren*t straight, and it*s
> definitely not to scale, but he thinks of everything. (That*s art.) He
> knows which trains run on which line, and where those trains run on the
> map of Japan we have up in his room. (That*s geography.) He is
> learning to read the names of the trains in his books we have bought
> him, and the ones he checks out of the library. (That*s reading.) The
> other day was the last day for the 0 kei shinkansen kodama train, and we
> read together in the newspaper about it. Clipped it out, and put it up
> on his wall. He learned when it first ran, and that it was the fastest
> train in the world at the time. (That*s history.) Whenever we ride the
> trains, he tells everybody which train they*re riding and everything he
> knows about the train. (Field trips!) He has lengthy conversations
> with the train conductor on coffee break or anybody else who*s willing
> to listen all about the various trains he*s ridden, and the trains
> others have ridden. (That*s socialization. Did I miss anything?)
>
> He*s only two, and I*m not worried about his future right now. Neither
> is he. He*s having too much fun in the present.
>
> ____________________________________
>
> This, and other essays can be found on my incomplete website:
> http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/3440/
>
> If anyone else is willing to help me by writing essays on various
> topics, I would appreciate it.
>
> Love, Melanie in Japan
>
> > Check it out!
> http://www.unschooling.com