Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and
some have greatness thrust upon ’em. — Twelfth Night
When our 3rd grader stumbled into the kitchen this morning, Shakespeare spilled from her lips.
Truly.
One of the dads at her school helps run a Shakespeare program at the University of Texas and — lucky us — brings his passions to our kids. Our daughter’s studying The Comedy of Errors with her class and Twelfth Night in the afterschool masterclass.
When I was in 3rd grade, I’m not even sure I’d heard of Romeo and Juliet and I fear there are plenty of people who still think that’s a Dire Straits song. The idea that she is memorizing Toby Belch’s funniest lines makes me weak in the knees.
So, unsurprisingly, discussion of old William is frequent ’round our house these days.
Here’s some of the recent fodder:
Shakespeare was wild about ship wrecks.
And death, right?
A tragedy is quite a good play but you wouldn’t want one in real life.
If it was up to the kids, Midsummer Night’s Dream would get picked every time.
Shakespeare thinks words like bottom and belch are hilarious, which is why he’s good for kids.
Did you know, Mama, that Shakespeare does not have to be read in an English accent?
This last one was followed by a demo of Shakespeare sung, Shakespeare rapped and Shakespeare in a Texas twang.
Swoon.
Off to school now, Sweet.
Go have greatness thrust upon you…
OMG, what kind of a school do your children attend? I’d like to go back to third grade there, please!
Do you know that the Alabama Shakespeare Festival runs summer Shakespeare camps for kids? And their theater—gorgeous. We had season tickets for the two years we lived in Montgomery. You should make a field trip with your daughters’ school!
My kids go to (drumroll please) a PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Yep, it’s true.
Not all is lost…
Maybe we oughta get Alabama on our summer map!
Wow, I’ve got a 3rd grader not too far from you and there’s sure no Shakespeare going on here! Bummer. My brother did Shakespeare in public 6th grade (which was elementary school at that time), but not 3rd.
The strange thing about my 3rd grader, though, is that he doesn’t find words like bottom and belch funny. He finds them acutely embarrassing and usually looks like he wants to sink in to the ground when he hears any potty humor! (His 1st grade brother is quite the opposite and therefore loves to annoy the older one.)
(I also hate to inform you that many younger people wouldn’t even be familiar with Dire Straits!)
Uh-oh. I’m old!!!!!! 🙂
I’m weak in the knees reading this. “A tragedy is a good play but you wouldn’t want one in real life.” Priceless. “Shakespeare doesn’t have to be read in an English accent.” Wow. I mourn my own loss of experiencing new things with such basic openness. Kids see so clear.
I know, Jama. It just slays me…
You make me weak in the knees
The way you so poetically parent your children.
Re: You make me weak in the knees
Right back atcha, Bern.
That SO ROCKS. Woo-hoo for Shakespeare!!
Yep. Woo hoo!
I just watched Twelfth Night again the other day. I believe that it’s the housemaid who pens those lines, however, fine wench that she is.
It is SO great that your daughter is into Will. Most. Amazingly, Excellent.
Yeah, those aren’t the Belch lines (they have something to do with drinking so long as he has a passage in his throat and there’s a drink left in Illyria.) This quote just seemed apt. I’m a cheater that way 🙂
Shakespeare is the coolest. I love the snippets of conversation you’ve shared.
It’s all timeless with William…
I just had a boy (third-ish grade) come to the reference desk and ask for Midsummer Night’s Dream. As I was walking to the shelf with him, he said, “There’s a character with the best name in there — Bottom!”
Sounds like he knows the play through and through, when I showed him the cover he said, “Yeah, that’s Puck!”
Awesome.
Anyway, it made me think of this post, so I wanted to come back and comment. Woo hoo for kids reading Shakespeare!