Posted in Issues and Encounters

... I learned from - Clifford?

[Before I continue, it is important for you to understand, gentle reader, that my daughter's only exposure to public school has been the inside of the local high school for dance recitals.]

It's commonly said, and often repeated, but seldom really believed - young children are like sponges when it comes to learning. 

This can be hard on parents.  Really, it can.

You find yourself scratching your head at times, wondering where a behavior, phrase, or line of thinking came from.  You know where your child is, what he or she has been exposed to, yet they ambush you anyway with what they know.

Imagine my surprise when my daughter starts babbling away one day about "show and tell."  My first thought was, "Where did she learn about show and tell?"

Barely paying attention to what my daughter was saying, I'm wracking my brain thinking of all the cultural references she had encountered that would have demonstrated to her about show and tell. 

My best initial thought was the comics page.  Charlie Brown, Sally, and the Peanuts gang have show and tell.  So do the children in "Baby Blues," my daughter's favorite newspaper cartoon.

But, no, she tells me it's from watching Clifford, the Big Red Dog. 

Well, who would have guessed?

Now, my daughter is nearly seven.  And, if you're familiar at all with seven year olds, they like to talk.  I mean, they *really* like to hear themselves talk - a lot. 

So, teaching her to not interrupt has become a necessary goal in our household. 

I knew we were getting somewhere the night she raised her hand while my husband and I were talking.  Of course, being properly "socialized" by our public school years, we finished our line of thought then asked what she wanted. 

Then I realized what she had done - she'd raised her hand to be recognized to speak!  Where in the world had she encountered this notion?

My first thought was that we had been to a cub scouts function and they had done something similar with the scout pledge handsign to quiet the room.  Or maybe she had learned this concept in Sunday school.

I finally had to ask when she continued with the hand-raising-rather-than-interrupting behavior for several days.

Clifford again.  Of course!  Clifford, the big red teacher, strikes again.

Oh, and standing in line spontaneously?  You guessed it: Clifford.

So, when someone asks you how your children are ever going to learn to get along in life if they don't learn the skills taught in public schools, you now have an answer.

All I needed to know about public school, I learned from Clifford, the big red dog.