Where have all the Princesses gone?

[Happy_at_home]

I have come to the realization that we are losing a large piece of our oral/literary history. It seems to me that no longer are parents telling their children the beloved fairytales that generations have grown up hearing. Nor are they teaching them the nursery rhymes that have survived hundreds of years despite variations along the way.

Yes, our children know who Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Aladin are but it is thanks to Disney and their marketing and not the passage of these stories from parents to children that are keeping them alive. Why is this? These stories existed long before television and even long before widespread literacy. Do parents no longer see the value in passing down the stories?

My husband teaches at a classical school, my son attends there and my daughter will next year. Part of what the classical model strives for is a continued dialog between generations by sharing in the same experiences. This is part of why the children read "the classics". Their parents and grandparents have read them. People throughout the world have read them. It is a shared cultural experience to know the stories of Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty, Odyseus, etc. Also in teaching these stories to this generation ensures that they will not die out the stories can continue on and the culture will be richer for it, it will add depth to it.

In light of this I am endeavoring to focus January and February on teaching the children in my care Fairytales and Nursery Rhymes. I won't limit reading and telling these stories to just that time, of course but I will be focusing on them much more during that time. If you are a parent or someone who spends time with young children, will you join me on this? Help keep stories alive without them having to be made into movies