Posted in relaxed homeschooling

Every now and then I pull out one of my copies of "What Your ______ Grader Needs to Know" by E.D. Hirsch.  I use these not to tell me what to teach, but find the information presented on various topics to be interesting.  Since we have chosen a less than traditional approach, referring to these resources also helps me to see something important that I might overlook or that is lacking even in the more traditional text-based learning offered in our schools (afterall, that is why the Hirsch series was written to begin with!).

So, last night I was reminded about various idioms and expressions that are important for my kids to know in order to understand references to them in conversations, movies and literature (this is part of what is meant by the term "cultural literacy".  Here are a few expressions that I asked my kids the meaning of - and they didn't have a clue: "Birthday suit", "Bite the Hand that Feeds You" (they had a close guess on this one), "Catching forty winks".  We had fun discussing these phrases and plan to cover a couple a day for the next month or so.  I'm already planning a fun matching game we can play and I may even have my older son do some research into the history behind these phrases/expressions.  I believe this is an important part of language arts and cultural literacy. 

I even thought it might be fun for them to pick for me to share here on HSB from time to time!  So, here's our first one - we hope you will enjoy sharing it with your family!

 "Bite the hand that feeds you." -- An ill-tempered dog may bite his master, even though he depends on his master for food.  When you do something to harm a person or thing that supports you, you are "biting the hand that feeds you."  Can you think of a sentence using this phrase?  (What You're Fifth Grader Needs to Know, E.D. Hirsch, editor. (c)1993, Dell Publishing. New York, New York)

Have a blessed day!