Mushy Goo

Today my almost 4 year old found the Monopoly box in a closet and instantly said,

"Daddy, what's that game?"
I said, "Monopoly."
He said, "Can we play."
And with a bit of hesitation I said "OK."

I mean, after all how do you play a game that simulates the complexities of real estate market with a four year old?

The results were surprising. He quickly caught the concept of rolling the dice and counting the dots and enthusiastically moving his little pewter car around by counting the spaces. Soon his mom showed him how he could buy a house for $1 each. He proudly counted the three paper singles in his hand and bought himself some homes.

Granted he wasn't really playing Monopoly but in the course of a short while he was learning how to count, how to count money, how to take turns and after awhile he was even trying to read the names of the spaces he landed on.

One of my axioms in life is "Communicate for results." People respond to different types of communication in different ways. Some folks respond better when you e-mail, some when you call, some when you send them an Excel document, some respond best to Twitter or IM or whatever. The deal is always adjust your method of communication in order to achieve the desired result even when it may not be your favorite mode of communication.

My son learns well with Monopoly. So I can assure you that next time I want to teach him math or reading or real estate investing I won't pull out a text book but I will pull out Monopoly.