One day while working with a group of high school students, we touched on the subject of reading comprehension when the narrative is abstract.
I decided to use nursery rhymes as an example and was shocked to discover that most of them had no idea what a nursery rhyme was.
At first I thought they were just pulling my leg, but the more I interrogated them; I came to realize they were telling the truth. “Didn”t you learn these in grade school?” I asked, “Didn”t you hear them at home?”
The answer was always no. I was dumbfounded. When I was a child, I was always reading Mother Goose”s rhymes, having my mother sing them to me or playing nursery-song games in elementary school. What happened to the generation behind me?
Later, I began working with young children in grades K-3 and was astonished to find that the students were not being exposed to traditional nursery rhymes.
Instead, their class time was spent reading very long articles about the political history of the civil war and this was among first graders, no joke.
I brought this up in a conversation to other tutors and teachers, asking them why the schools no longer contained nursery rhymes or fairy tales in the class criteria for children to learn from. The answer I received was a ridiculous notion that the new generation of youth no longer cared for such trivialities and that math and history were essential in the development of productive members of society in the real world. OK, what?
Firstly, I will agree that math is an essential part of life, since the entire universe runs upon mathematical formulas; however, everyone seems to forget that illiteracy in the United States is at an all time high and schools are skimping quite a bit on English programs and focusing more on the math, and finally, history? Sorry folks but I”m confused, nursery rhymes are one of the best ways to teach children about history. Did everyone forget that? Or are those government workers who design the teaching programs for the public school systems just plain na?ve?
Nursery rhymes are poems or songs utilizing repetition set to a moderate rhythm, the subject matter in them varies and usually focuses on political or historical satire. The lyrics often use metaphorical and abstract symbolism to paint an image in the person”s memory, allowing them to better remember the subject at hand.
Wow. Any psychologist or linguist will tell you the best way to learn or remember something is to make a rhyme, produce a word association or memorize a song with a moderate rhythm; you don”t need a degree to realize that this trick really does work.
So, in world history, nursery rhymes can teach us about the following, the Black Plague: “Ring Around The Rosies,” The French Revolution: “Jack and Jill,” The Spanish Inquisition: “Goosey, Goosey Gander,” Rome”s occupation of English soil: “London Bridge Is Falling Down,” Guy Fawke”s attempt to blow up Parliament: “Remember, Remember The 5th Of November,” the fall of Queen Katherine of Aragon in the reign of the Tudors: “Old Mother Hubbard,” the struggle for political and religious freedom in Scotland: “There Was A Crooked Man?,” the persecution of Catholicism from English Protestant government: “Three Blind Mice,” the war of England and France: “The Grand Ol” Duke of York”, The American Influenza outbreak: “I Had a Little Bird” and the rise in Jewish immigration in America during the 19th century: “John Jacob Jingleheimerschmidt.”
That”s just to name a handful.
Trivialities? I think not.
People should not be stifled from accessing information, but for quite a long time now, I have watched the public schools slowly putting things away and parents cluelessly allowing their children to be denied that which they have an inherent right to knowledge. This is why libraries, museums and even the Internet were created. Utilize them folks, at least for your children”s sake.
When Michelle Berger is not writing, she”s usually re-enacting famous fight scenes from Kung-Fu flicks. Reach her at mberger_om@yahoo.com.
