| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bill R |
Posted - September 29 2003 : 3:46:15 PM
I was thinking last night, and this kinda goes with my thoughts on Williamsburg.........
Anybody remember that great reading book called Singing Wheels? It was the fourth level in the Alice and Jerry reading books. About a family who went by stagecoach to live with their relatives in a frontier town something like Sturbridge Village. Don't remember where exactly it was, possibly one of the plains states or Kentucky or something, but where isn't the point.
I LOVED THAT BOOK! I couldn't WAIT until it was time to read each day just so I could read that book. It had all kinds of stuff in it to interest a kid in colonial/early federal period of living. As I recall, it talked about soap making, dyeing, spinning and weaving, the blacksmith, making shoes, candle making, the miller grinding grain, even had the kid going out in the woods with his flintlock looking for game. And explained as part of the story what each thing was, and how it was done. Made you wanna run out to the library and get more books on such subjects.
I wonder, do grade schools have anything comparable these days? I would bet my bottom dollar they don't. Those books were written in the 40's and 50's. Taught respect for each other, and Singing Wheels especially taught us how to read while giving us an appreciation of rural family life and early history.
I guess many would call those kinda books simplistic or even propaganda these days. I wouldn't, but some might. And I'd just bet that little attention is given to the history and purpose of the BOR, while emphasizing how the Constitution was written long ago during different times by "old dead white guys".
I don't suppose any of these things has anything to do with the difference between kids attitudes and behavior of the 50's and kids of the 1990's though, huh? |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| LittleOne |
Posted - April 24 2004 : 3:57:56 PM
HA HA! ohh my neighbour used to have a dog like that, It was quite a big dog too, a shepard/collie mix and my nieghbour kept it loose on the front porch..the little thing attached itself to everybody...probably why we never had the same mailman for more than a few days.. lol |
| Bill R |
Posted - October 18 2003 : 4:01:30 PM
I know I know. 
But the dog thing didn't just pop into my warped little mind. It was an actual grade school experience! A not so pleasant one.
Was walking home across the big field behind the school towards home and this little dog starts following me. I stop, pet it, etc etc and start walking again. It's still following me. So I stop and pet it some more and talk to it, and begin walking again. It's still following me acting all friendly and my little boy mind starts thinking how I'd explain to my Mom the classic "but it followed me home! It must not belong to anybody! Can we keep it PLEEEAAASSE?"
I stop again to pet it and before I can do that, the creepy little thing grabs my leg and starts going to town. At first, my little boy mind does not have a clue what it is doing. I try to get it off, and it won't let go. Keeps on ripping of one on my dam leg.
Finally it dawns on me what the thing is doing......sorta, I mean we didnt have sex education in grade school in those days......teachers allowed us to be innocent of those things back then instead of issuing 5th graders condoms......and I was forced to punt for the field goal on the dam mutt. I was all flustered, embarrassed and confused. Guess that's when I started hating dogs, eh?  |
| richfed |
Posted - October 18 2003 : 2:04:00 PM
Sick puppy ... ooops! ... Just a-joshin', Bill! :) |
| Bill R |
Posted - October 18 2003 : 11:15:14 AM
Well, I just got MY copy of this book in the mail yesterday!!! Bid on one that was listed on Ebay. What's cool about it is that it is in almost like new condition, AND it is the "Anniversary edition" printed in 1957 (I think the first edition was printed in 1947). That means this is probably the edition I was reading in grade school, as the books we had were new or nearly new, and the first edition of this book came out the year I was born. Ah, nostalgia.
Look Alice, look. See Bill jump. Bill is happy. Why is Bill happy, Alice? Bill has a book. See the book. The book makes Bill happy.
See Spot jump with Bill. See Spot climb Bill's leg. What is Spot doing, Alice? See Bill kick Spot. Bill likes cats. Bill does not like dogs. Poor Spot. Bad Bill.
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| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - October 18 2003 : 10:10:02 AM
Just found this cute little joke, which kinda goes along with this topic:
A little boy just couldn't learn. One day his teacher asked him who signed the Declaration of Independence. He didn't know. For almost a week she asked him the same question every day, but still he couldn't come up with the right answer.
Finally, in desperation, she called the boy's father to her office. "Your boy won't tell me who signed the Declaration of Independence," she complained.
"Come here, son, and sit down," the dad said to the boy. "Now if you signed that crazy thing, just admit it so we can get out of here!"
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| Bill R |
Posted - October 07 2003 : 9:21:06 PM
I'm not sure I remember Singing Wheels being so much actual history as such - I probably erred in referring to it that way - but it surely talked about fun things for kids in earlier days, and early/frontier lifestyles and trades and stuff. I loved it. And it DID prompt kids to go to the library and try to find out more.
Yeah. Earlier days were simpler. Good grief Charlie Brown, and we all lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation and nuclear winter, and it was STILL happier times and simpler times. Jeez. What does that say about TODAY?
Grade school was indeed the best times of my life. |
| Pen |
Posted - October 07 2003 : 7:57:49 PM
Hey, I read 'Singing Wheels'! Cool, people besides me read it! If I remember rightly, the series went through the 1910's or so. I liked that there was a continuing story with the children of the boy and girl from the first one. Plus, it was an interesting way to learn history. Beat the heck out of S.R.A. Reading Cards (or whatever those things were callled!).
Dang, all this talk of reading and learning to read makes me I wish I could see PBS's 'The Electric Company' again! Okay, so I probably just dated myself ...
Pen |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - October 02 2003 : 9:36:11 PM
Yeah!! And... and...
catch minnows in the little canal behind my house, and
ride our bikes with the big ol' balloon tires around the neighborhood, and
walk down to the Tasty Freeze and get a hot-fudge-dipped cone for 10 cents, and
build a nifty clubhouse out of pallets and packing crates with my Dad, my brother and several friends, and
go trick-or-treating on Halloween and be able to eat all the homemade goodies without having to worry about being poisoned... and... and...
Gee, I wish I were a kid again! |
| securemann |
Posted - October 02 2003 : 7:39:28 PM
Let's make a homemade go-cart,play some stick ball,play some stoop ball,fry some ants with a magnifying glass,eat those candy buttons stuck to paper and go to the candy store for an egg cream which didn't have any eggs in it.Can go on and on....Oh,then go watch Gunsmoke on T.V. |
| richfed |
Posted - October 02 2003 : 05:53:55 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Wilderness Woman
...sigh... Yeah, it was truly a time of innocence, wasn't it?
Perhaps I was especially naive, but life was so simple. There was no sex on TV or in the movies, no violence (sorry, but you can't count the bad guys getting shot without blood spurting in the cowboy movies!), no drugs, no video games, no computers. You would go to school; watch the Lone Ranger or Robin Hood or Leave it to Beaver on TV; play cowboys and Indians outdoors, riding around on stick horses with the neighbor kids.
And there was: Summer vacation camping trips with my parents, sitting under a tree in the backyard reading a book, walking downtown to the corner drug store with my friends to have a cherry coke (mixed from scratch), picking strawberries for local farmers in the hot summer sun to earn money for school clothes, going to the movies on a Friday night and seeing a double feature, plus cartoons, plus a newsreel.. I could go on and on.
I can't believe it's been 40 and more years ago. Unbelievable. And I miss it.
Yep, I hear you, WW. I kind of believe that the 15-20 years immediately following the end of WWII may have been the "high tide" of life here in the US. A wonderful time! Bring back The Beave! Certainly, as you suggest, a glorious time to be a kid. |
| Theresa |
Posted - October 02 2003 : 05:03:03 AM
Jaime Escalante...yes, Bill and Adele, any parent would wish a teacher like him upon their children. He saw potential in his students and he had the gift of knowing exactly how to reach them. I didn't know about him until I saw "Stand and Deliver" and we have his biography in our library at school. *note to self...check it out*. You also have to give credit to those students for their perserverance and it was he that was able to bring that out of them as well. It would have been so easy to give up. |
| Adele |
Posted - October 02 2003 : 02:46:34 AM
This is a topic near to my heart!
It never ceases to amaze me the difference a good teacher (or librarian!) can make to a persons life, and this seems so sadly underestimated these days.
I remember when I was younger, I hated history. It was a subject that I dropped as SOON as I was permitted. I think my interest was finally sparked when I visited Normandy, and became emotionally impacted by the sight of D-day landing craft rusting on the beaches. But I had an advantage over a lot of people, which is that since I was a child, I loved books and reading, and so it was no hardship to start buying books on history and start educating myself.
My younger brother hated reading, and wasn't doing well with it, and I can remember digging an old book out called Great True Escapes, a big volume that told the exciting stories of real people who had made daring escapes. Everything from the only man to escape the Tower of London to WW2 POW's. I started reading the tales aloud to him, and he was captivated. He couldn't wait for each next episode. So why did I find history so dull when I was at school, when the reality is that nobody could write fiction as exciting as our own world history? An uninspiring teacher perhaps?
I am not sure how it is in the US, but in the UK, the public servants who should be most valued e.g. teachers, nurses, doctors...have been taken for granted to such an extent, and undervalued, that all the good ones seem to be in such short supply. I can't think of a more worthy job than being a teacher, and Bill gave some great examples: Jaime Escalante, the calculus teacher who got such great results from his students that they were accused of cheating - now he is a teacher that we would ALL wish upon our children!
HM |
| Wilderness Woman |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 9:31:38 PM
...sigh... Yeah, it was truly a time of innocence, wasn't it?
Perhaps I was especially naive, but life was so simple. There was no sex on TV or in the movies, no violence (sorry, but you can't count the bad guys getting shot without blood spurting in the cowboy movies!), no drugs, no video games, no computers. You would go to school; watch the Lone Ranger or Robin Hood or Leave it to Beaver on TV; play cowboys and Indians outdoors, riding around on stick horses with the neighbor kids.
And there was: Summer vacation camping trips with my parents, sitting under a tree in the backyard reading a book, walking downtown to the corner drug store with my friends to have a cherry coke (mixed from scratch), picking strawberries for local farmers in the hot summer sun to earn money for school clothes, going to the movies on a Friday night and seeing a double feature, plus cartoons, plus a newsreel.. I could go on and on.
I can't believe it's been 40 and more years ago. Unbelievable. And I miss it. |
| Bill R |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 5:55:10 PM
Forgot about Puff! And had Dick's name wrong! Called him Jerry.
Ya know, I could almost be persuaded to go back to 1950's and grade school.............*sigh* |
| Theresa |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 5:39:56 PM
OH!...and I remember Dick, Jane, Spot, Mother, Father, and their cat Puff. |
| Theresa |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 5:38:33 PM
You know, Rich, I believe if I had to make the decision whether to send my kids to public or private school in this day and time, I'd have to opt for private school simply because I wouldn't want them exposed to some of the goings-on from students as a youngster. That lack of discipline is rampant...our hands are tied. I admire Lainey for being able to do this for your children. |
| richfed |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 1:52:28 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Doc M
Okey dokey -- you guys have opened the door now! In what can be
laughingly termed my "real life," kindly old Doc M works as a
reference librarian, and answers questions allllll day long.
Here are some examples of questions I've gotten about history,
asked by adults.
1) Was General Robert E. Lee the hero of "Operation Desert Storm?"
2) Did Winston Churchill discover America?
3) What's the name of the Indian who fought in the French and Indain
War?
4) How was the west coast involved in the Revolutionary War?
5) Did the Wright Brothers fly across the Atlantic on their first
flight?
6) Give me the names of all the pilgrims on the Santa Maria.
7) What is Omaha, Nebraska? Is it real?
8) Is Tahiti an amusement park?
9) Is Mt. Rushmore natural or man-made?
10) Who is the Andy who owns the Andy's Mountains?
11) Did Adam West (Batman) help Jonas Salk discover the Polio vaccine?
12) Did Elvis Presley have a hairy chest?
13) Is New Hampshire in Connecticut, or is it a state now?
Scary, eh?
Funny, too. Reminds me of the type of questions we often get through the web site.
All you guys are saying the very things that caused us to decide to home school our kids back in the 80s. We still do. I works out great - of course, they have a great teacher [Lainey]. There is no comparison between the education my kids receive and that given in the local elementary schools here. Besides learning to read & write & do arithmetic, my children are much more versed in literature, history, religion & philosophy than the average child in the same grade. So far, the track record has been that they go on to excel in high school & college. So, I agree with the assessments being made here.
That said, somebody, somewhere is teaching history to their classes. I can't vouch for the quality or method, but the result for this web site is soaring visitation.
BTW, Bill, I do not recall the "Singing Wheel" books ... I remember Dick & Jane and their dog, Spot. Then, they moved into some sort of color-coded advancement process in my school ... I don't know, maybe I was in the 4th grade, or so, when that was implemented ... which makes it about 1962, or thereabouts. My kids learn largely from the McGuffey Readers.
PS - I'm going to move this thread into, I guess, the philosophy forum? It's more that than a historical site. Moderator there can re-move if you think of a better place ... Or, is a new forum in order? |
| Theresa |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 07:24:41 AM
CT, we have a high school history teacher/coach (puh-lease) who shows a lot of movies to his class thereby earning the name "Video 101" title for his class.
An addendum to my post above about not allowing the students to look up information on the computer....we DO allow that but we want them to learn how to use the books available first. This site has a wealth of information that anyone studying history could find most anything right here and I would direct them to this place in a heartbeat.
I remember last year one of our sixth grade students who had been retained the year before and a very slow learner and struggled so much but yet he couldn't get enough of WWII. He couldn't get enough of it due the the fact that his Grandfather was in it....a perfect of example of how we should use all our sources to teach these kids and excite them about learning. It's a tough job but it can be done and like Bill said, it's not necessarily more money that's needed to get the job done. |
| CT•Ranger |
Posted - October 01 2003 : 12:42:32 AM
I went through the California public school system, and found the teaching of history in grade school to be fairly well done. We started with local history in 3rd grade, learning about the history of our city. 4th grade was state history, learning about the spanish missions, the gold rush etc. American history in 5th grade, but we only got to the Civil War by the end of the year. Sixth grade was world history, but focused mostly on ancient history, neolithic through the Roman Empire. We even read through the Epic of Gilgamesh, and Hammarabi's Code. Jr. High was more world history in 7th, and American in 8th. High school was where the teaching of history degenerated. Only two years of history were required out of four. So 10th grade was world history and 11th more American. It was here where I became disgusted with the politically correct propaganda, and teachers teaching for the standardized test. Teaching about minority history is fine, but not at the expense of the rest of American history. This I think, is where the real problem lies. History goes through fads, just like anything else in American culture. For the last 10 years or so the focus has shifted from ignoring minorities, to completely focusing on minorities, and everything else is completely ignored. When I got to high school, I pretty much had to teach myself if I wanted to learn any history.
There were some really bad history teachers I had too. One of them just showed movies, like "Gone with the Wind" and "Drums Along the Mohawk," but did nothing to try to explain them or the history behind them. This teacher didn't know what the Battle of Cowpens was, and when questioned about it by a student, said it was fences for holding cows. Another thought all the aircraft involved in WWI were called "The Flying Circus," and when corrected by a student who tried to explain "The Flying Circus" was a nickname for just one German squadron, the teacher said something like "You make it sound like there were a lot of planes in WWI." And this was supposed to be a teacher of an Advanced Placement class. Another teacher in my AP American history class described the Americans in the Revolution as all "backwoods farmers" who "took their squirrel rifles down from over the mantle" to shoot at the British from behind trees.
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| Kurt |
Posted - September 30 2003 : 10:26:01 PM
My wife completed her Bachelor of Science in Teaching and took a Masters level course this semester to get started. No rush since she's back as Teaching Assistant and the clock doesn't start until she gets a teaching job. Anyway, the name has changed but the gist of the course is a return to one-room schoolhouse method where when you plan out a subject, you put the advanced students to work helping teach the ones who need more help. It's nice to see old ideas be validated and adapted to new situations.
I'm pretty sure 4th graders in New York study New York history so they do get some French and Indian and American Revolution but not much Civil War.
Oh, I did see a couple of copies of Singing Wheels being offered when I did a internet search so you should be able to find one, Bill. |
| Theresa |
Posted - September 30 2003 : 8:40:29 PM
Great discussion! I see each day the lack of parental involvement and how their children are struggling big time. How do you convince these parents that they are their children's first teachers? I remember one of our kindergarten teachers on the first day of school when only the parents come. She, of course, said she was there to teach them but her question to them was, "What have you taught your child up to this point?" Makes a HUGE difference.
Our social studies classes are doing research on the Western Frontier. They come into the library in groups at a time, which is great because it's almost like "one on one". The first thing they want to do is jump onto the computer to look up this and that. NOPE! Not in here...not at first. First, you use resource books, non-fiction books, your text book, go to the index and find where the information is (what's an index?)....once they began digging, they actually enjoyed doing it...almost like a treasure hunt they said. So, there are some bright moments but it takes everybody getting involved...teachers, parents, Fort Toulouse, librarians, local historians. And by some small miracle one of these will ignite a passion in one of these students and set them on fire for history. |
| Bill R |
Posted - September 30 2003 : 7:49:18 PM
Yeah, Emma Crow wore a bun too. What is with that? Was it the expected look or something?
Worse yet, the woman wore BLACK! I mean, geez, make it EASY or something!
Remember "these boots are made for walking"?
Well given THAT name and THAT attire she was virtually screaming "this woman's made for mocking!" |
| Doc M |
Posted - September 30 2003 : 6:14:24 PM
My favorite was Miss Murphy, the librarian in my high school, who
we nicknamed "Skull" Murphy -- she had nasty thin red hair in
a bun, of course, and a face like she got second place in a hatchet
fight. She hid all the new books that came in for fear we might
actually check them out and get them dirty, her finest moment
was when she yelled at my best friend for sitting and paging
through a magazine. "You can't read in here!!!" she thundered!
This is A LIBRARY!!!!" Please be assured that I look about as
far away from a "librarian" as it's possible to get, thanks be
to God!!
Kissies!
Doc M |
| Bill R |
Posted - September 30 2003 : 6:06:19 PM
You know, I am gonna buy a copy of that book Singing Wheels, and read it to Betty's grand daughter. It was that book which led me to go to the library and read the kid's version of Northwest Passage "Roger's Rangers" which led me to read the kid's version of Last of the Mohicans, which led me to.......well you get the idea.
And pass that sucker on to Betty's daughter to read to her kids when she has any.
My kids are all grown up of course, and have a real interest in history and reading. Who said parents should be involved with education? Read to their kids? Expose them to educational things? Darn right. Best thing we can do for them. I agree whole heartedly. And darnit, introduce them to the library! Every place I ever went first thing I did was check out the library and get a card. Why, I owe late fees in nearly every state in this great country!!!
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| Bill R |
Posted - September 30 2003 : 5:47:55 PM
God bless the librarians! All of 'em!
Except Emma Crow, Northeast Junior High. Caw caw caw! We used to call her "I amma crow" and do the most obnoxious imitation of that bird.........mainly cause she was the ENEMY! Wasn't important if you slep through library period......was only important that no NOISE be made, not a sound, shhhh. Even the noise of a page turned cause the old biddy to smack you with a ruler. God forbid should you wanna get out of your seat and go to the card catalog!
Librarians though.........God bless em. Did anybody else have summer reading programs in their public libraries? Every summer ours would have a program where you got a gold star for every book read, and a red star for every five read and so on. You had to do it one book at a time, but you could choose any topic or fiction/non fiction. You were proud to have that little card with all those stars on it. Least I was. And they'd help you with finding things that interested you. Love the smell of a library too. I WANT MY CARD CATALOG BACK!!!!!!!!
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