This Day In History
June 14, 2010 by Puna
Filed under Signatures
When it comes to school, I would categorize the husband and I as “average” when it comes to expectations about grades. We have our ups and downs and frustrations with our children just like any parent.
I mean, what parent hasn’t asked their little girl, “Why do you have a C in gym?”
“Because I keep forgetting to bring my sneakers.”
It’s not frustrating at all by any means.
The boy - now the boy - I would put in the bright and charismatic category. Notice I didn’t say the “studious” category. Mind you, in spite of taking honors courses and an AP course, he continues to make the honor roll every quarter so why study?
Anyway, I was helping him with a little history project last week. Because he is under the impression that I ask a little too often about how school is going, he tends to not ask for my help for fear it might turn into a lecture or life lesson.
I have no idea why he would think that.
So this was a rare and welcome turn of events. And in spite of the fact I kept calling Rosa Parks, Rosanne Parker (Mom, really!), I think it went pretty well.
Kudos to all you home schoolers out there!
So in this exercise, he wrote a poem and after each stanza he would ask me what period of history he is talking about. So you guess along with me okay?
Here we are,
Home is so far
Half a world away
We arrive in Vietnam today
Here in the cockpit of my F-4
I’m here to fight a war
and I don’t even know what it’s for
Answer: Vietname Era. Okay, the next one is harder
I have no job, I have no money
I don’t have the simple things, like milk or honey
Thank God for Franklin’s New Deal
now we can all start to heal
Answer: The Great Depression
Okay, it wasn’t harder but hold on…
I’m not from around here
They say all I do is drink whisky and beer
but in reality
I work hard and am proud of my Irish nationality
Answer: I forgot what he said the answer was for this one…something about immigration? And Ellis Island perhaps.
Nuclear war
Is it necessary?
With the threat of total destruction
The world is its own adversary
Answer: Cold war…I lived through this, I remember…
Don’t tread on me
that is the cry
we will fight for independence
or we will die
Answer: Revolutionary War
The dream of space
has turned into a race
to reach the stars
“We will do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” – JFK
Answer: The Space Race (we won it by the way)
I may never again see my wife
I may never again see my kids
I may never again see my mother
but the worst part is that I’m fighting my brother
Answer: The Civil War
Is the Red Scare
from the Communist Regime
but I don’t care
because capitalism reigns supreme
Answer: McCarthy Era – but it really could apply to many other periods of history yes?
I will protest
putting my limited rights to the test
I will march, I will dance, I will sing
and I will follow Dr. King
Answer: Civil Rights Era – kinda self-evident but maybe not for 10th grade kids
Here I stand all alone
staring at this sea of stone
here it lies, wide and tall
from this side of the Berlin wall
Answer: Cold War – I remember the Berlin Wall coming down…it was an amazing sight on tv
Almost done…
I help set them free
you don’t want to be me
I carry such a heavy load
working on the Underground Railroad
Answer: Civil War – of course
Thirteen days
that’s all it takes
Thirteen days
Til the whole world breaks
Answer: Cuban Missile Crisis – way to go JFK
Really almost done now!
As the bombs fall
I can’t help but wonder
how many die
in every boom of thunder
with all the ships caught on fire
Pearl Harbor looks like a funeral pyre (he actually spelled pyre correctly)
Answer: Pearl Harbor
The 30s were dominated by filth and greed
which caused the economy to bleed
this could have led us all
to an economic downfall
Answer: I think he meant to write about the Great Depression here
Last one,
Mandela spent his years in prison
but now he has re-risen
to lead his nation
beyond everyone’s expectations
Answer: Fall of Apartheid
I certainly didn’t expect you to make it this far, but thank you! If you did, you will see that the boy is just brilliant! I wanted to keep this poem so I scanned it and now it’s also on my blog forever and ever.
I don’t know how the kids will do guessing the answers but I’ll find out today when he gets home because he is presenting it today. He finished this project a week early because he didn’t want to have to work on it over the weekend. The husband nearly fell over when he found out.
Sniff, my boy is really growing up!
those are great and my oldest nephew is the same way – he doesn’t have to work hard to make A&Bs….so why bother is his philosophy. he won’t listen to all the doors it could open if he just applied himself a touch more.
My son barely showed up for school his senior year (he was going through a rebellious stage), but he knew the bare minimum that he had to do and still he managed to graduate with honors cords. Drove me crazy, BUT he was the executive chef at his former restaurant and is the restaurant chef at the four star hotel where he works. They do grow up!! And they make us proud, even through all the frustrations. Sounds like you don’t have anything to worry about in your son, Puna.
Puna, we can’t let him see this post!
This is great! What a wonderful job he did with the poems. I love the photos along with it, too!
Good for him! And what a neat project for the kids. I think forcing them to come up with something creative actually gels the events in the mind a little better than making them memorize facts or write an essay (like so many others they’ll have to write).