In the school of parenting, you must be a quick study

From today's Briefing:

Sometimes I get restless for school life. The rhythm, the constant discovery, the guarantee of new people to meet each semester.

I’ll even toy with the idea of an advanced degree, romanticizing the idea of new books, tests, research papers (and ignoring the stress of buying new books, studying for tests and writing research papers).

There are a few obstacles in the way; lack of time is at the top of the list. And truly, I have no pressing need for more formal education.

In the meantime, I’ve got plenty of tuition-free learning opportunities right here at home. I’m constantly learning — or relearning — along with my children.

Thanks to Cooper and Katie, I can confidently discuss the narwhal (also known as the unicorn of the sea) — and not just from frequent viewings of Elf. I know a little about the Caddo Indians of Texas and ancient Mongolians. I have a cursory knowledge of the patent process.

Right now I’m discovering advanced math concepts and their applications.

Cooper has been studying the Fibonacci sequence. I didn’t even know how to spell Fibonacci until this year, when Cooper started spouting facts about the Italian Leonardo of Pisa, who introduced the math concept to Europeans.

(Cooper is a big fan; he recently read a library book about great scientists and was alarmed and insulted that Fibonacci had been excluded.)

If I had ever learned about Fibonacci or his sequence, I’ve long since forgotten. So everything Cooper is sharing is new to me. To keep up with his fascination and his dinner table conversations, I’ve done a little of my own reading.

Each number in the sequence is the sum of the two previous numbers. Like this:

0 + 1= 1

1 + 1 = 2

1 +2 = 3

2 + 3 = 5

3 + 5 = 8

5 + 8 = 13

8 + 13 = 21

And so on.

This sequence shows up all over nature. If you look at a pine cone, you’ll see two sets of spirals — a set of eight in one direction, a set of 13 in the other. Pineapples have three sets of spirals — a set of five, a set of eight and another of 13.

Flowers often follow the pattern. Marigolds have 13 petals. Black-eyed Susans have 21. Pyrethrum, 34.

The family tree of a bee can be followed with the sequence. And it creates the structure of the Nautilus shell.

Because of my children, I’ve also become a closer student of the English language. There’s nothing like helping your child learn to read and later to spell to make you fully realize the complexity of our language.

I’ve learned how to explain the long vowel-silent E combo, as in the word “bake.”

“The E on the end is silent, so it makes the first vowel say its name.”

I’ve learned how to explain the sneakiness of the letter C.

“The C is always stealing from the K or the S.”

And I’ve learned how to apologize for the language, when all the rules and exceptions are too complicated.

“I don’t know why OUGH sometimes sounds like UFF but other times sounds like O. We just have to memorize it.”

As my children grow and advance from grade to grade, I get to keep growing with them, learning alongside them.

There’s no course catalog for this kind of school-by-parenting. Who knows which theories and writers and topics will grab their interest (and pull me along)?

I’m earning no class credits, and there’s no diploma at the end. Those formalities don’t matter, though — the real reward is our time and knowledge shared.

Tyra Damm is a Briefing columnist. E-mail her at tyradamm@gmail.com.