Read-alouds redux

Can you stand it if I talk about read-alouds again?

I was reading aloud from a library book on genetics that had a picture of a former U.S. president with skin cancer. From there, our conversation wandered down the following paths:

Oh! That's why we wear sunblock!
How do chemicals cause cancer?
What is cancer?
Was the man in the picture a good president?
What makes a good president?
What's the difference between Democrats and Republicans?
Would I make a good president?
Which president made the decision about dropping the atomic bomb?
What would you have done, Mommy? Would you have dropped it?

Just talking, while curled up on the couch with an interesting book about genetics, we covered "science-health-history-social studies-ethics-morality-our faith." And, we discussed that these things are not simply little compartments of our lives, but are things that must fit together as seamless parts of the whole of who we are.

Perhaps I don't need to emphasize that this is why I don't really fret about precisely covering "subjects."

Books. Words. Ideas. Together. That's school.