October 24, 2012
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Bad Babies Song…
A song from a five year old’s perspective about how babies cry, chew on things, and are very bad from the Sandra Boynton Book/CD series (Dog Tracks, Philadelphia Chickens, Rhinoceros Tap) that Kohls sold a couple of Christmases ago is really bugging me. Mostly because being bad is something The Girl takes seriously and she can’t figure what the babies are doing that is bad from the song. “Why are the babies bad? What the babies do bad?”
But they aren’t being bad- they are being babies. We have a couple of long talks about how babies behave and communicate since there is a new baby on the way and now she’s worried about the baby being bad instead of like her baby cousin. I reassure her that she’s a good girl, the cousins are good boys/babies, and that her new baby will be a good baby too. I’m not sure she believes me.
I’m really hating this series of books and CDs. The illustrations are amusing and engaging, the music is creative, but I hate the content. I hate the song that glorifies tantrums, the one that talks about how peas are yucky (she never knew you weren’t suppose to eat peas and other vegetables before we started listening to these), and I’m not thrilled with the one that teaches you to avoid the task at hand unless you’re yelled at. Nearly every set has at least two or three songs I find objectional because of the message they sent. I know they’re supposed to be kid-centered, and from a kid’s point of view, but why is there a need to teach this crap? It’s just for fun, I hear people saying. But The Girl wants to understand exactly what the song is about so we talk about each one and she isn’t getting it. She will find these funny when she’s five or six (or maybe even seven), but even then, what exactly do we want her to be learning?
I’m much happier with the They Might Be Giants children’s music. She has learned tons of things from the Science disk and begs for the TMBG music constantly. It is creative, funny, engaging, amusing, and teaches difficult concepts in unique manners.
I think what you teach is more critical than how you teach it… but it seems like I’m one of the few people feeling that way lately!
Comments (1)
I think, having suffered from bad teachers in the past, it’s equally what you teach and how you teach it. You could have the dreariest subject in the world, but a good teacher will make it interesting and spark your enthusiasm. You could have an exciting subject killed by indifference from the teacher.
I remember, when Hannah went to school, the class was given Roger Red Hat. She had already read that and was reading the Hobbit at the time. The teacher asked Hannah to read Roger Red Hat, so she did. Then the teach suggested that Hannah had memorised Roger Red, so Hannah turned to the back page and read the book backwards for her.
After that, Hannah was allowed to continue reading the Hobbit.
The teacher was, I think a good one. She backed down when she could have just insisted. It must have been hard for her – especially if this took place in front of other kids – but it was the right decision as far as Hannah was concerned.