At a tourist attraction, a mum with three energized kids, who were clearly in danger of going feral, simply said ‘All the wise kids, follow me.’ Then she walked away! There was no raised voice, no threat. And do you know, those youngsters all followed. What’s interesting is that a few minutes later they were intensely studying the insides of an insect hotel.
Another day, another family. A lad of about ten saw a building up the hill, nestled amongst the trees. ‘What’s that?’ he asked. His ‘I don’t want to be here’ mother dismissed it as a cafe. But that building was the children’s history exploration area, designed to engage their attention. Did she know?
Later, the same family were passing through the main museum at speed; history may not be their strong suit. The lad again asked ‘What’s that?’ ‘A coffin’ replied the mother, without checking. But it was the hearse for carrying children’s coffins. A mute point maybe, but yet another example of misinformation.
But then, at the Eden Project, immigrant parents were showing their children the plants that the parents had grown up with. Notably, how they used the plants, whether it be for food, medicines or other purposes. The children were particularly taken with the explanation of how rice gets from looking like a head of grass to being dinner. Despite the humidity in that part of the gardens, there was no hurry, with the children mostly leading the focus. Many non-immigrant folk stayed within hearing, clearly eavesdropping. Later, the same family were poring over the spice exhibition. Did the Eden Project instigators envisage how immigrants may find the biomes a place to connect english-born offspring with their heritage?
Another day, another historical place: a class of 7 and 8 year olds in Wales on a field trip were seated around the internal wall of an Iron-age Round house, asking a Guide questions. Despite my not speaking Welsh, the tone and body language suggested deep interest.
Can it be that kids are incredibly interested in history, when given a chance? If they know what’s gone before, how will that shape their thinking going forward? More importantly, if they don’t understand what’s gone before, how will they avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?
This should not be confused with the stories and myths parents love to promote. On a train two mum’s with nine-year-old daughters were sharing tales around Christmas customs. One household endures two elves who sleep as toys all year, but on Christmas Eve these two do something truly naughty to disrupt Christmas morning! One year they spread the other toys all around the house, even into the oven, and on the stairs. Another year they had a disco, leaving glasses and chip crumbs all over the carpet, and the music still playing. But last year they had been the naughtiest of all, playing in the flour! It had got everywhere in the kitchen. The family knew it was the elves because one was caught in the flour bin.
The sheer delight obtained from such rituals means they will be long remembered, and retold into old age.
As a grandparent, I still get great pleasure from recounting how to catch a rabbit, as told to me when about five. You place a carrot with pepper on it between two big rocks. The rabbit will hop up to eat the carrot, sneeze from the pepper, and knock himself out on the rocks. I waited hours…
Is that kind of trickery any differant from the parent who actively lies? At Tring Natural History Museum, a mother was telling her two almost-school-age girls that the animals were sleeping. Was this to avoid awkward questions, or to manage her own discomfort?
On a train to Redhill, a mum was keenly listening to her ten-year-old lad explaining computer coding, and how the mathematical cos and sine came into it. She openly admitted she knew nothing about it yet was asking/promoting him in full engagement. All power to her for valuing his knowledge, and showing her belief in him.
Listening to parents on trains is such fun! There was the young long-haired, multiply-pierced dad discovering things in his four-year-old’s school bag which shouldn’t have been there. When quizzed, the lad said his friends had given them to him. Dad pointed out the coincidence of the items also being on the lads birthday wishlist. Dad then suggested he would check with the lads teacher the next day to make sure it was okay, to which the lad replied ‘They were just a loan for the night, Dad. I will give them back tomorrow.’ Hmmm…. The dad then made the lad promise there would be no more loans. Sorted!
And two teenage lads debating which movies were a true interpretation of history, and why. Of particular concern was the interpretations which didn’t fit the era portrayed, and whether it was okay to use animation to remove the human element of a true story, for artistic licence, as in the ‘Lion King.’
Compare those teenagers knowledge to that of some adults. When King John was mentioned to an English-born forty-ish man at a railway station, he asked ‘Wasn’t King John something to do with Robin Hood?’ Well….
Stories for you - Enjoy! 