Hey, kid, sorry your old man and I can't help you out with suitable role models. . .
My kindergarteners have been assigned something like twenty-eight books. A handful of these are reading books. Little collections of stories about this and that. Poorly written and poorly drawn, for the most part. When it comes to these little collections, the important point to bear in mind is that the kids like them. Fortunately, all of my children enjoy reading.
Another class of books would be practice books on various subjects. Phonics. Introductory grammar. Reading comprehension. Critical thinking. These the kids work in in some fashion. Most of these books are printed by Harcourt and we don't need to go over what we think of that whole racket.
Finally, the third class of books. This third class of books is what I call the time sink. These books boil down to coloring books. Activity books, properly speaking. But what the kids basically do with them is color, cut and glue. Supposedly, the teachers are to have these big books from which we read.
No one knows where the damn things are. My thought is that they simply don't exist. At least not in some material form inside the walls of our school. They're not there.
The Health book is one such book. Last week, we hit the two pages about getting a prescription from your trusted physician and then going to the local pharmacist. Well, that was the first page actually. The second page dealt with not taking medicine from your peers, but from doctors, teachers, and parents only.
I got the second point across by asking random kids "Hey, ______, if you were waiting to go home, and _______ came up to you and said 'Hey, _______, I've got some really cool medicine, do you want to try some? It's pink and red and tastes like springtime! Yow boo yow?' what would you say?"
Every kid but the one who really digs on The Pixies said "No!"
This week, we did the next two pages. These two pages sort of expanded on the theme from the last page. They were, respectively, drugs and smoking.
Right fucking on.
So the first picture was of this old school aluminum pull top with the word "BEER" written on the side. I explained to them that beer came in either cans or bottles and was best served without ice. I said that many of them might have dads or grandpas or even moms who drank it.
And then every kid in the classroom had a story to tell about beer. One little girl didn't know what it was. She was dining with her family and someone had left a little cup by her. Sbe said she drank the whole cup. I asked if she'd gotten sick and she said no, I asked her if it made her laugh and she started laughing, saying that she had pulled her mother's jacket and purse to the floor.
Another little girl, a particularly sweet one, basically ratted her old man out for an alcoholic, saying that her mother always chided him for getting a buzz-on "all days."
Another one in the back was quick to chirp up that her house's refrigerator "have many beer." Tony Flattop said that his dad and his grandpa would drink beer and watch baseball. I told him lot's of people do that. Literally every kid had something to say about either having consumed it at one point or having a family member totally stocked with the stuff.
I went on to explain that while beer and wine were okay for grown-ups, kids shouldn't drink them. When asked why, I said that because they were still young and that their bodies weren't finished growing yet. I told them they couldn't drink until they were finished. I told them that cigarettes were never okay, all synthetic drugs excluding acid were never okay, most organics were fine in moderation, and that pot was pretty much okay.
"Do you have drink the beers?" asked the kid who said he'd take prescription drugs, if offered. He can't talk without smirking.
"No, I prefer whiskey."
The kids laughed, words that end in long E amuse them. "What is 'whiskey?'"
"It's like beer and wine, but different. It's good for you."
Another class of books would be practice books on various subjects. Phonics. Introductory grammar. Reading comprehension. Critical thinking. These the kids work in in some fashion. Most of these books are printed by Harcourt and we don't need to go over what we think of that whole racket.
Finally, the third class of books. This third class of books is what I call the time sink. These books boil down to coloring books. Activity books, properly speaking. But what the kids basically do with them is color, cut and glue. Supposedly, the teachers are to have these big books from which we read.
No one knows where the damn things are. My thought is that they simply don't exist. At least not in some material form inside the walls of our school. They're not there.
The Health book is one such book. Last week, we hit the two pages about getting a prescription from your trusted physician and then going to the local pharmacist. Well, that was the first page actually. The second page dealt with not taking medicine from your peers, but from doctors, teachers, and parents only.
I got the second point across by asking random kids "Hey, ______, if you were waiting to go home, and _______ came up to you and said 'Hey, _______, I've got some really cool medicine, do you want to try some? It's pink and red and tastes like springtime! Yow boo yow?' what would you say?"
Every kid but the one who really digs on The Pixies said "No!"
This week, we did the next two pages. These two pages sort of expanded on the theme from the last page. They were, respectively, drugs and smoking.
Right fucking on.
So the first picture was of this old school aluminum pull top with the word "BEER" written on the side. I explained to them that beer came in either cans or bottles and was best served without ice. I said that many of them might have dads or grandpas or even moms who drank it.
And then every kid in the classroom had a story to tell about beer. One little girl didn't know what it was. She was dining with her family and someone had left a little cup by her. Sbe said she drank the whole cup. I asked if she'd gotten sick and she said no, I asked her if it made her laugh and she started laughing, saying that she had pulled her mother's jacket and purse to the floor.
Another little girl, a particularly sweet one, basically ratted her old man out for an alcoholic, saying that her mother always chided him for getting a buzz-on "all days."
Another one in the back was quick to chirp up that her house's refrigerator "have many beer." Tony Flattop said that his dad and his grandpa would drink beer and watch baseball. I told him lot's of people do that. Literally every kid had something to say about either having consumed it at one point or having a family member totally stocked with the stuff.
I went on to explain that while beer and wine were okay for grown-ups, kids shouldn't drink them. When asked why, I said that because they were still young and that their bodies weren't finished growing yet. I told them they couldn't drink until they were finished. I told them that cigarettes were never okay, all synthetic drugs excluding acid were never okay, most organics were fine in moderation, and that pot was pretty much okay.
"Do you have drink the beers?" asked the kid who said he'd take prescription drugs, if offered. He can't talk without smirking.
"No, I prefer whiskey."
The kids laughed, words that end in long E amuse them. "What is 'whiskey?'"
"It's like beer and wine, but different. It's good for you."