I love watching my kids learn and I especially love seeing their faces at that moment of understanding, the instant recognition happens, that second when it finally dawns on them that this is what it’s all about.

I had such a moment with my son yesterday.

I was helping him with his math homework which involved multiplying some large numbers with some smaller ones.  4200*8 for example, or 2300*7.  I noticed that while he could easily do the math, he was having a little trouble reading back the final results.  He couldn’t quite figure out how to read 33600 or 16100.  I explained to him the the idea of the blocks of 100s, 1000s and 1 000 000s and once he finally grasped the idea, it really was as if a little light turned  on his head.

He was so pleased with himself, he didn’t want to stop.  He wanted to keep practicing his newfound ability to read these large numbers.

But, the real *moment* came when we started working on products in the millions.  The boy could not wipe the enormous grin off his face whenever he was able to read a seven, eight or nine digit number.  It was as if he had gained the knowledge of the ages.  He now had the ability to not only read numbers in the millions, but to manipulate other, smaller numbers and turn them into numbers that had been unattainable before.  It was as if he had been given some great power, one that few were granted and even fewer could master.

The giddiness at mastering these previously unreachable numbers will eventually fade, but the lesson that there can be excitement and passion when learning new things will, I hope, remain forever.

To infinity… and beyond!