[Deb Speaking] Today was a hectic, busy day. Since it's right before Christmas, I really didn't have time to read to Abigail like I like to do every day. I am a firm believer in reading aloud to my children as I think it exposes them to good writers and it's a wonderful way to spend time together. I still read to my 17- and 15-year-olds several times a week.
Today I decided I needed a little help, so I asked David, our 15-year-old to please read to Abigail. I had selected the book The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher. I thought Abigail might enjoy seeing the Chinese characters on the side of each page, and David could learn a little bit more about the Great Wall, which we had seen in China.
It's sounds like a foolproof win-win, doesn't it?
As I bustled about the kitchen, I stopped to tune in to what David was reading in the living room. I was hearing that King Bob and his general Kluken were involved in this great building project. I had never heard of a Chinese emperor named "Bob", and "Kluken" is David's favorite made-up word.
I did not have the time to interrupt, but later David said to me, "Mom, I hope you weren't intending that book as a history lesson for Abigail. I didn't know how to pronounce the names, so I made up my own."
I then took the book and read the first paragraph. It reads as follows:
About twenty-two hundred years ago, King Cheng of Ch'in conquered the kingdoms of Han, Sun, Yen, Yueh, Ch'i, Chou, Chao, Ch'u, Wei, Wey, Wu, and Lu. Tiny Ch'in became a huge empire: China. And King Cheng became Ch'in Shih Huang Ti, the First Supreme Emperor of China.Hmmm. Sometimes a little improvisation IS necessary.
1 comments:
Scott apparently was there for this history lesson and is convinced that General Kluken was instrumental in building the Great Wall.
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