Home schooling fun

[annafugazzi]

God help me, I just used Harry Potter to explain adultery and illegitimacy to an eight-year-old.

::shaking head at self::




Edit: OK, so that was completely obscure. It all started when we were listening to an Irish drinking song, Johnny Be Fair. Much adultery occurs in the song.


Well Johnny be fair and Johnny be fine and wants me for to wed.
And I would marry Johnny but me father up and said:
"I'm sorry to tell you daughter what your mother never knew,
But Johnny is a son of mine and so he's kin to you."

Then Jimmy be fair and Jimmy be fine and wants me for to wed.
And I would marry Jimmy but me father up and said:
"I'm sorry to tell you daughter what your mother never knew,
But Jimmy too is a son of mine, and so he's kin to you."

Then Danny be fair and Danny be fine and wants me for to wed.
And I would marry Danny but me father up and said:
"I'm sorry to tell you daughter what your mother never knew,
But Danny too is a son of mine, and so he's kin to you."

Oh never was there a girl so sad and sorry as I was;
The boys in town are all me kin, and me father is the cause.
If I should thus continue, I shall die a single miss.
I think I'll go to Mother and complain to her of this.

"Oh daughter haven't I taught you to forgive and to forget?
And if your father sowed his oats, still you need not fret.
Your father may be the cause of all the boys in town but still....
He's not the one who sired you, so marry who you will!"


Elder child got it. Younger child did not. After much explaining, younger child did not understand why the girl wasn't related to the boys in town. So eventually, I asked them to name two male and four female characters (we'd already tried with "Dad" and "Mom" and "Other Woman #1" etc.) from books.

They named Harry, Ginny, Seamus, Hermione, Romilda, and Pansy.

We ended up with the following family tree:

Ginny
+ ========= Cindy (narrator)
Harry
+ ========= Johnny (and Ron probably a little miffed at them)
Hermione
(Harry)
+ ========= Jimmy (and a lot of chocolate cauldrons)
Romilda

(Harry)
+ ========= Danny (Harry was doing drugs here)
Pansy


So he was able to see why Harry thought she was related to all these boys.

Then we changed it for the last verse, ending up with

Seamus
+ ========== Cindy (Dean's gonna blow a gasket when he finds out about this)
Ginny

Harry
+ ========= Johnny
Hermione

(Harry)
+ ========= Jimmy
Romilda

(Harry)
+ ========= Danny
Pansy


And he got it!

It was a rather surreal conversation, though. Especially when he wanted to know how people could have children and not know that they had them, or not know that they had been cheated on when their spouse had kids with/by somebody else.

Elder child: Well they have to have sex to have kids.
Younger child: Yeah.
Me: You normally don't do that in public.
Elder child: It's not like Harry goes to Ginny, "OK, see you later, I'm off to have sex with Hermione!" and she says, "No problem, I'll just go have sex with Seamus!"
Me: ::stifles giggles::

Comments

[ms-worplesdon.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Okay. So that is completely brilliant. What couples did you use as examples? Please say Remus was involved.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Heh, alas, no Remus.

Nope, the couple was Harry and Ginny. And the adultery concept was part of explaining the Irish drinking song "Johnny Be Fair," in which much adultery ensues. Our characters were Harry, Ginny, Seamus, Hermione, Romilda and Pansy. Very bizzare :D :D :D

[nico1908.livejournal.com]

The inquiring mind wants details... :D

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

Elder child: It's not like Harry goes to Ginny, "OK, see you later, I'm off to have sex with Hermione!" and she says, "No problem, I'll just have sex with Seamus!"

Only in fanfiction. :D

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

:D I dare you!

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

But that would mean I'd have to write het! ;)

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

*ponders* Well, Harry could have lied about the identity of the person he was going to have sex with? :D

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

The plot thickens!

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

The. Plot. Is that how it's called nowadays? ;D

[cold-poet.livejournal.com]

Lets try that again with the right username. *facepalm*

That is entirely made of win.

We use Supernatural a lot to explain things to Fanchild. Hooray fandom!

[angelbabe_cj]

Hee, oh that's brilliant.

I was much better when I worked out which way on the family trees were moving! *is easily confused*

The surreal conversation is made of awesome!

[daf9.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I remember when my parents went to Jamaica back in the ... late sixties? they returned with a record that had a song with the same plot. I remember the chorus went

"you can't marry that girl,
I have to say no
The girl is your sister
But your Mama don't know"

and the chorus to the final verse went

"his Mama she laughed
She said "Go man, go"
Your Daddy ain't your daddy
But your Daddy don't know"

Amazing the things that stick in your brain.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

::snicker:: Yeah, no accounting for the persistence of memory.

And funny to see you over on this lj - my two worlds collide again ;)

[scrtkpr.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, this is great! :D

[kuri-taichou.livejournal.com]

lol. It's these kinds of things that make me wonder about what it'll be like if I ever have kids. "Mommy, what are you drawing?" "Nothing honey, nothing... *hides Harry/Draco pr0n*"

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

::snicker:: Happily, I have yet to run into that particular situation. ::knocking on a whole hell of a lot of wood::

[kuri-taichou.livejournal.com]

Lol! Did you know that Maki Murakami, the creator of Gravitation, had to watch her kids while she was making the Remix doujinshis? XD

[tree00faery.livejournal.com]

Lol, that's great. Kids are so much fun. ^_^

[cyane-snape.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, you're normal. I think. I use Harry Potter analogies all the time in my teaching. Most kids can relate to him and the stories.

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

Lol yeah, there is that. Actually I used them to explain puberty at one point - well, not explain so much as de-scarify. They were a little concerned, after one too many comments about "You'll understand when you're a teenager," that they would be totally different people in a few years. Because if you could turn into somebody who actually wanted to kiss people... eeeep.

Pointed out that Harry and his friends go through that change, from totally uninterested in book 1 to whooping-tummy feelings, to serious kissage by book 6, but they're still the same people, right?

It helped :)

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

LOL you're giving them the wrong impression about Harry! :D But hey, Romilda named her son after Harry's middle name and Pansy will travel between alternate realities and her son is going to play Harry in the Muggle cinema. :P

[annafugazzi.livejournal.com]

But hey, Romilda named her son after Harry's middle name and Pansy will travel between alternate realities and her son is going to play Harry in the Muggle cinema. :P
::blink blink::

::snortlaugh::