through their five senses--if they see something and enjoy it, you
can pin endless facts, and tons of associations on it, and children have an
amazing capacity to take all of it in. They'll never give you a bored look and
vacant expression. Trust me, it's part of their nature to hunger after
knowledge in the same way that a hungry man hungers for his dinner. But the
thing has to come first, and the words to interpret it have to come
second.'" -C. Mason Paraphrase Vol 5 p1289
My 3rd grade teacher had a rock polisher. (I want one.) On her desk, she kept a jar of little shiny rocks that gleamed and made you really want to have one. They were our prizes for obedience, meeting goals etc. I kept mine. I still like to look at them.
He and I've got lots more learning to do on this fascinating topic.
Rocks... Who'd have thought?