Columbus Day

Last Monday was Columbus Day and the kindergartners spent some time learning about Christopher Columbus and his famous voyage. As a few of them waited for the bus in their Columbus style three cornered paper hats, I asked them a few questions.

"Do you know who Columbus was?" I asked.

"Yes," said Richie, "he was a guy and he discovered America."

"And he had three boats," offered Rocco.

"Why did he need three boats?"

"Cause," said Rocco, "he had a lot of stuff."

"Yeah," said Richie, "and a lot of friends who wanted to go with him."

Hmmm. "Do you know the name of his boats?"

"I do!" said Rocco, raising his hand (guess he forgot we weren't in class). "The Nina , the Tita and ...." He stopped to whisper a question to Richie. "And the Santa Margarita."

A girl sitting in the back of the line overheard him. "No, it's the Ninja, the Pinta and the Santa Marina. And everybody thought they were gonna go over the end of the world."

"You're right -- almost." Then the bus arrived and we had to put an end to our discussion. So goes a little slice of world history according to five year olds. I keep wondering when the teachers are going to explain Amerigo Vespucci to the kids. The only problem is, Vespucci didn't have a holiday named after him -- just a country and a continent.