Forget 5th grader. I know I'm not smarter than a 5th grader and I'm not afraid to look in the camera and say it. But, I've always felt I could take on even the smartest kindergartner. Then, Taylor started quizzing me on stuff he's learning and I must admit, I was slightly challenged.

What are trees called that stay green all year?

What are the trees called that produce cones?

What species does a spider belong to? ..a bumble bee?

What is cardboard made of?

What is the setting of the story?

What are the puffy clouds in the sky called?

How does hail form and why does it fall from the sky?

Who was the first president of the United States?

Ok, so you probably knew the answers to all of those, but it's still shocking that so does my kindergartner. My baby boy that I still see as a baby boy knows all that stuff too. Are we teaching kids too much too fast? I'm not ready for him to have all the answers to the worlds problems. Let him be a naive, sweet (sometimes) child a little longer please. I guess there's nothing wrong with filling his brain with all this knowledge at such a young age. Maybe I'm just scared by the time he gets to 2nd grade I'll no longer be able to help him with his homework because it's going to be over my head.

Point and case, yesterday's math homework:

Six teddy bears went to the movie theater. One left to buy popcorn. How many teddy bears are watching the movie now? Two teddy bears left to use the restroom. How many teddy bears are watching the movie now? One teddy bear came back with popcorn. How many teddy bears are watching the movie now? Two teddy bears came back from the restroom. How many teddy bears are watching the movie now? The movie is over and all the teddy bears went home. How many teddy bears are watching the movie now?

(I guess I should add the problem above is from Harcourt Achieve Inc. and may not be reproduced without permission - I'm just borrowing it for demonstrative purposes)

Upon reading the question, I thought Taylor would have trouble and need to use the teddy bears and printed chairs that came with it... Nope, he answered everything immediately and said, "it was "easy peezy!" and asked me to come up with another question with harder numbers! To which I replied, all right smarty pants and re-read the same question substituting the number 6 with the number 10 and raising the number of bears that left for popcorn and the restroom. "Easy Peezy!" Do it again with 'harder' numbers....

So, are you smarter than a kindergartner?