October 4, 2010

Impromptu History Lessons

Does this happen to anyone else? 
We go about our day,
and stumble upon a cultural or technological reference
that will perplex the children.

Recently, as we sat about eating lunch,
one daughter read a joke from her candy wrapper. 
It referenced rabbit and TV ears. 
The joke failed as my children had no reference for TV ears. 
This began a brief lesson on the history of television. 
"When I was a child, we had no cable. 
Instead there were antenna 'ears' on top of the TV. 
We adjusted them to get the best fuzzy picture we could..."


A favorite audio book from my childhood.

Several weeks prior,
we spent a morning perusing a flea market. 
We were hoping to find a desk chair for the boys' room. 
While there we pointed out floor model radios, glass soda bottles, etc. 
The children were fascinated with the big black CDs. 
Thus began the explanation: "No honey, that is a LP record. 
It goes in a record player. 
A needle is placed on top to..." 
Which was promptly followed by,
"CDs don't need a needle placed on them..."

Our all time favorite history talk
happened at the dinner table years ago. 
We sat about discussing the days events
when one child turns to my husband and says,
"We are learning about the American Revolution in history. 
You were born when it began, right?"

My husband after choking down his food,
laughingly replied,
"Um, the American Revolution was in the 1770's not the 1970's."

6 comments:

  1. What a great post... seeing The Ugly Duckling took me back a few years! Impromptu history lessons are often the most meaningful, aren't they? We usually have them when exploring my in-law's basement!

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  2. Isn't life and all its changes amazing?

    We actually had rabbit ears in 2008-09 when we gave up cable for a year.

    Do you have a record player so the kids can enjoy your Ugly Duckling record? I also had a few record books as a child...huge hit with my sister and me.

    Love the new header photo!

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  3. I love your new fall header! It's amazing all that has changed in just the last 50 years. I can't wait to be able to teach history to my sons.

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  4. No, unfortunately, we do not have a record player any more. This is the sole remaining record in our house. Actually, my parents had saved it for me, and gave it to me a few years ago. It was wrapped with a treasured dog book from my little girl days. Isn't that neat?!

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  5. HA! I'm totally cracking up at the innocent lack of reference your children had for cultural or historical context. We've also experienced this on numerous occasions. My 7yo has asked on SEVERAL occasions, "Mom, that's how it was for you in the olden days, right?" Grrr. ;)
    BLessings,
    Toni

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  6. Stopping by from the Hip Homeschool Hop - we do the same impromptu history lessons, too. How hilarious about the 1970s!!!

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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