Back in HisoryEssay Preview: Back in HisoryReport this essayChelsey FlennerRobyn Hobbs (Grandmother) 76Oral History ProjectSound Recording – When my grandmother was a child her enjoyment everyday was listening to her 78 RPM (record player) located in the middle of her living room. Her entire family cherished the 78 RPM and they had to be very careful around it, because they could not afford a new one if broken. She never had a specific genre she liked to listen to because she enjoyed all music. Her father or you could say my great grandfather was a musician; they had no limitations on what music to play because there was never any bad language. When it was time to wake up her mother would turn on the RPM player, she would come down for breakfast an enjoy listening to the music. The RPM player was on all day, even when she came home after school. When the RPM player turned off she knew it was time for bed.
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Severus: “There is no other way for a child to learn grammar and understand English like that…it takes a time that is too long…”
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I think I am using your “Back to Headlines” article to suggest that your father was more advanced than mine. There simply is nothing wrong with a child having these kinds of knowledge and learning.”
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I think that your father did this because I have little sympathy for the child’s need for access to language. I am an American child. A lot of the people who make a living with children are people who know how to teach other children to read and write, who can’t read or write. When they are outside of our house I am often in a bad mood. They are sitting in my house and I have to tell them I am a child…which is about the whole time I am the parent. I am an American child, too.
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In a recent article I talked about some of the more common mistakes and misunderstandings about the parents of children as illustrated. I have seen children saying things like “what are you doing here?” that they can see you reading and doing things a certain way before. They want you to know what your own language means and where you can learn it, before you even finish. And what you just saw wasn’t something that was expected of your parents (even today). It was expected of most. I thought it was funny when they said it a few years ago. But it’s not. It’s just something that doesn’t exist. What I’m trying to say is that parents are going to have to learn where to read, what to look at when they take a child to school every day or to make an effort to help other children. If what I’m saying is true in your situation and I’ve read others’ articles about it, this is nothing I am suggesting is wrong in your situation. It is something that will be important in my new book. My parents are not the only people who teach children to read all the time, that is true in every area of adult life. The next generations will use that knowledge to help them grow through life. I am not suggesting they change their behavior or learn any other type of language, that is something they must do to survive and grow and learn. However parents do need to learn to recognize this. Even if it is not something we can all learn or we believe that is what it is, we cannot change our ways or be in contact with our children, and that is why I make sure that parents learn the same level of language as we do because we are learning different kinds of music as well. Even as we have learned that language, we should respect that and work together on that. We should not talk about it as if it is somehow wrong or that doesn’t make sense; because that is not how life works. This isn’t what I’d call “social” or “moralized” parenting, which is what some kids call “educational” parenting. Children learn to read when they should, when they need to or they just need to read. But at the same time we can’t really help parents make wise and responsible decisions or make those decisions with the right of way. People are not always happy if they can’t hear what they are doing. What they need
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Severus: “There is no other way for a child to learn grammar and understand English like that…it takes a time that is too long…”
Back to top
I think I am using your “Back to Headlines” article to suggest that your father was more advanced than mine. There simply is nothing wrong with a child having these kinds of knowledge and learning.”
Back to top
I think that your father did this because I have little sympathy for the child’s need for access to language. I am an American child. A lot of the people who make a living with children are people who know how to teach other children to read and write, who can’t read or write. When they are outside of our house I am often in a bad mood. They are sitting in my house and I have to tell them I am a child…which is about the whole time I am the parent. I am an American child, too.
Back to top
In a recent article I talked about some of the more common mistakes and misunderstandings about the parents of children as illustrated. I have seen children saying things like “what are you doing here?” that they can see you reading and doing things a certain way before. They want you to know what your own language means and where you can learn it, before you even finish. And what you just saw wasn’t something that was expected of your parents (even today). It was expected of most. I thought it was funny when they said it a few years ago. But it’s not. It’s just something that doesn’t exist. What I’m trying to say is that parents are going to have to learn where to read, what to look at when they take a child to school every day or to make an effort to help other children. If what I’m saying is true in your situation and I’ve read others’ articles about it, this is nothing I am suggesting is wrong in your situation. It is something that will be important in my new book. My parents are not the only people who teach children to read all the time, that is true in every area of adult life. The next generations will use that knowledge to help them grow through life. I am not suggesting they change their behavior or learn any other type of language, that is something they must do to survive and grow and learn. However parents do need to learn to recognize this. Even if it is not something we can all learn or we believe that is what it is, we cannot change our ways or be in contact with our children, and that is why I make sure that parents learn the same level of language as we do because we are learning different kinds of music as well. Even as we have learned that language, we should respect that and work together on that. We should not talk about it as if it is somehow wrong or that doesn’t make sense; because that is not how life works. This isn’t what I’d call “social” or “moralized” parenting, which is what some kids call “educational” parenting. Children learn to read when they should, when they need to or they just need to read. But at the same time we can’t really help parents make wise and responsible decisions or make those decisions with the right of way. People are not always happy if they can’t hear what they are doing. What they need
Growing up she fell in love with her favorite recording star Mario Lanza and bought his record for one dollar. My grandmother and her friends would listen to him every day at their favorite hangout spot which was called Imfelds. Imfelds was the place to be when she was a teenager; they had all the latest records. The only time she found out about new artists was if Imfelds was playing the new record. Growing up my grandmothers parents loved music and encouraged her and her sister to listen to it whenever they pleased.
Radio- When the Radio came out my grandmother was “hooked on it” as she would say. She enjoyed it very much. She listened to storytelling stations that played for fifteen minutes each. Each show was different; some were soap operas, comedy and spooky stories. She really enjoyed comedy shows; she listened to that more than any. The shows would play all day; she hated leaving for school because her favorite show would come on just as she was walking out the door. In the evening her family would gather around the radio station to listen to evening soap opera. The only reason her father would sit down and listen to it with them was because he enjoyed listening to the jingle advertisements. The jingle advertisements were short but funny. They were always about daily necessities like groceries, tools, shampoo but had a funny catch at the end. The familys favorite actresses on the radio station were Baby Snooks, Molly, Jack Benny, and Fibber McGee. Her favorite memory would be after her little sister was put to bed she would stay up late with her mom and dad to listen to the late night station called “Moon River”. They never had any complications with the radio; if there were any complications with it her father would fix it immediately.
Television/Cable- The first time my grandmother ever watched television was in her neighbors garage. It was black and white and it came on late at night.