pc@hplabsb.UUCP (Patricia Collins) (01/20/84)
A friend whose young child attends a cooperative playschool told me she was there to hear the following: As the children were preparing for a game of Farmer-in-the-Dell, one of the little girls asked if she could be first. The teacher said no, because a boy had to be the farmer! This is supposed to be a very progressive playschool. My friend later explained to the teacher and the school's director that not only was it unfair to restrict such participation on the basis of sex, but that women and girls have been farmers for as long as there has been farming! Daycare and preschools can be wonderful experiences for little ones. However, left to operate without regular input from parents, it is obvious that they can provide environments which are not healthy (lying to children about what jobs are open to them is unhealthy, in my book). It's probably not possible to know all that goes on in your child's classroom, but you can keep informed about policies and philosophies with regular teacher/careprovider contact. Patricia Collins hplabs
gam@proper.UUCP (01/21/84)
As the children were preparing for a game of Farmer-in-the-Dell, one of the little girls asked if she could be first. The teacher said no, because a boy had to be the farmer! Perhaps because the traditional version of `The Farmer in the Dell' goes: ~...The farmer takes a wife.~ and the teacher wasn't prepared to change that. (I don't disagree with you, but merely pointing out how the teacher may have overlooked the sexism of choosing the boy to be the farmer).
urban@trwspp.UUCP (01/23/84)
<<dreaded bug fix here>> >>> As the children were preparing for a game of Farmer-in-the-Dell, >>> one of the little girls asked if she could be first. The teacher said >>> no, because a boy had to be the farmer! This is supposed to be a very >>> progressive playschool. My friend later explained to the teacher and >>> the school's director that not only was it unfair to restrict such >>> participation on the basis of sex, but that women and girls have been >>> farmers for as long as there has been farming! Maybe I'm completely off-base here: isn't the second verse of Farmer-in-the-Dell, "The farmer takes a wife?" "Takes a husband" wouldn't scan. Maybe it isn't brainwashing but just fear of playing revisionist with a traditional verse? Of course, whose idea was it to use Farmer-in-the-Dell anyway? Mike
holforty@ihuxo.UUCP (01/24/84)
According to Gordon Moffett a reasonable explanation of the teacher's sexism might be related to the part of the song ~...The farmer takes a wife.~ It has been a few years since I played Farmer in the Dell (back when Dick and Jane were still in the school books and sexism was rampant), but I can't remember any of my teachers worrying about the sex of either the farmer or the wife (or the nurse for that matter). I still find it odd that any teacher would care. After all this is just a game to amuse young children. It is more important to be fair to all of the kids. In this case, fairness should include that all of the children have an equal opportunity to go first and the the child that is currently it should have the right to pick whoever s/he wants to play the next role.
peg@linus.UUCP (Margaret E. Craft) (01/24/84)
I find myself making up new words to a lot of nursery rhymes/games. My version of "the farmer in the dell" is the same as the original, except the "farmer takes a mate"! That lets the farmer be either he or she!! Then "they both take a child"... or maybe I should make that "make a child"! Early sex education!!