CINCINNATI, Ohio — A Cincinnati kindergarten teacher is going beyond teaching reading, writing, and math at Liberty early childhood school. This kindergarten class is seeking answers to questions that may not be found in a textbook.

• She asked her students to ask any questions they want
• The students came up with over 70 questions
• Experts, family and friends have all been coming into the class to teach the answers to each question

In the Lakota school district, they’re very focused on personalized learning. But Mrs. Mac’s kindergarten class took it to a whole other level.

For Christa MacFarlane, or "Mrs. Mac" to her students, it’s crucial to teach beyond just the numbers.

“I have all these standards that I get to teach them about reading and writing and math and all these things," MacFarlane said. "But I wanted to know what are you interested in? What do you guys want to learn?”

That snowballed into a brand-new project for Mrs. Mac beyond her traditional lessons. She decided to allow her kids to ask any questions at all. And the response was overwhelming.

“For ten minutes straight they went at it and did not stop," she said.

The questions they asked were well beyond anything these kids were learning in class.

“I asked, 'what do the insides of animals look like?'" Melanie Stein, a kindergarten student said.

“How Kleenex’s are made," Nolan Breitenstein, another kindergarten student said.

Mrs. Mac typed up the over 70 questions her students asked and decided she wanted to make sure she got the kids answers, even if she didn’t know them herself.

“These are the things that are in these kids' minds and it’s up to us to get the answers for them," MacFarlane said.

So she sent the list out the students' parents and got an overwhelming response. 

“We had all these connections that we just had to ask," she said.

“My dad might come in and tell us how jets work," Breitenstein said.

Just recently a parent came in to teach the kids about money, and the lesson really stuck.

“One hundred coins is one dollar," Stein said.

“If you have $100 you can buy one hundred ice creams down in the lunch room," Breitenstein said.

Mrs. Mac says the best part is even some siblings are getting involved. She says her students are also taking initiative to learn on their own and share with the class.

“When we have these experts come in and teach us, then they’re seeing me learning along with them, which I think is a great lesson too," MacFarlane said. "Because if they can leave knowing that you’re never going to stop learning, keep asking good questions, then I think that’s a great lesson to leave with.”

And for a task that seemed so impossible, Mrs. Mac made it attainable.

“I don’t feel like right now there are any on this list that won’t get answered," MacFarlane said.

If you think you could help teach or share resources on any of the questions, reach out to the Lakota school district.