Driving back home from school DS1 announced he had learned ‘science’ at school.  Confused, as I was pretty sure  ‘science’ was not part of his curriculum, I asked what he had learned.

‘Well, Mummy, if you put cheerios in a bowl and put the bowl in the microwave for 17 minutes, that’s science’ he rattled off.

‘Hmmmm’, I replied cautiously.  ‘What happens then?’

‘Ehhh, ehhh, I don’t know, oh yes……I do.  The cheerios will be hot and you put them on a plate’ he offered, glowing with the pride of  a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I was lost for words.  Well, not really……I couldn’t help myself.

‘I would have thought they would explode in the microwave.’

DS1 thought about this and then informed me, ‘You can also leave the bowl of cheerios outside but they need to stay outside for 20 minutes in 43 degrees.’

‘I doubt they would last that long….the local cats and next door’s dogs might gobble them up before the 20 minutes are up’, I reasoned.

Undeterred, DS1 announced to DD, ‘if you put a bowl of cheerios in the microwave for 17 minutes, it will explode!  That’s called science!’

BTW – checked the curriculum.  Reading, Spelling, Maths and Arabic….no science…..I suspect hand-me-down playground talk from those with older siblings!