There Was an Old Woman.....

Nursery rhymes are part of the Kindergarten Core Knowledge curriculum. Honestly, many of them creep me out! Today we read, There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. If you don't remember it, it goes like this....

There was an old woman,

Who lived in a shoe;

She had so many children,

She didn't know what to do.

She gave them some broth,

Without any bread;

She spanked them all soundly,

And sent them to bed

I am not an advocate for spanking children. That is my parenting philosophy- to each his own.

Reading it with my class sparked really great conversation. One student asked me why she had all those kids if she didn't know what to do with them. One suggested that since she was old, perhaps she was only babysitting! They all wanted to know why the kids were spanked and sent to bed. Many had theories on what terrible choices the children had made to get such a punishment. Some wanted to tell me stories of their spankings. I asked the class if they like this poem. Many answered NO! So, we came up with a solution. Since they all keep an illustrated poetry journal throughout the year, we crossed out spanked and changed it to hugged. We read the poem again and agreed that a hug before bed sounds much better then a spanking. I hope all 18 of my sprouts got a hug tonight!

I found this version that I like MUCH better!

OLD WOMAN IN A SHOE

By Jordan Riak

There was an old woman

Who lived in a shoe.

She was a kindhearted mom

Who knew exactly what to do.

She raised all her children

With patience and love.

Never once did she give them

A spank, shake or shove.

Her children all learned

To be gentle toward others,

And good parents too

When they became fathers and mothers.

From their days in the shoe

They learned this about living:

Kindness, not force,

Is the gift that keeps giving.