As many of you know, in my spare time I’m home-schooling my 7-year-old and 5-year-old daughters. They start calculus next week and the Latin lessons are coming along just fine.
OK, I’m kidding. What we actually “studied” on Monday was a story about firefighters and firehouses, a subject of particular interest to the Family Muth since Grand-dad is a retired 20-year veteran of the Baltimore City Fire Department. So it was time for a field trip. I rang up the local firehouse here in downtown Carson City, Nevada, to arrange a little tour of the facility so the girls could relate the story the just read to real life.
To make a long story short, Firefighter John (don’t call them “firemen;” firemen work on trains, these guys fight fires) gave the kids a grand tour, letting them put on the equipment, climb in the trucks, etc. Then it was time for Q&A.
Daughter Kristen: “Where is the fire dog?”
Fireman John: “We don’t have one. There’s a new rule against dogs living at a firehouse.”
Dad to Kristen: “That sounds like a dumb rule to me. Who do you think came up with that rule?”
Kristen to Dad: “The government, Dad?”
Proud Dad: “Yup. The government. You get a Gold Star!”
You see, the most-important home-school lessons often have absolutely nothing to do with the three R’s.
Posted on July 6th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
What a great story to indicate the foolishness of those in government that seem to have no common sense and no ability to function in a real world.
Great story - and oh-so-true!
My “Ex” and I are seriously considering home schooling our 15 y.o. daughter - i pretty much have her convinced that this is THE best way to go. The only road block we have is maintaining/making new social connections. Anyone out there have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dirk
At the risk of propagating “liberal think”, I’d love to know the rational for such a rule. It’s been a long week and I could use a chuckle.
(Ok, I understand that not ALL asinine laws come from liberals, but the odds are with me.)
Chuck,
I’m a retired San Francisco Fire-man. The PC police changed our name to the generic “firefighter” when they started to hire women. (I won’t get started on that one) Your Carson City fireman is either rationalizing for the generic term, or has been brainwashed by the same liberal gummint that banned the pooches. By the way, we had a cat in our house for about 15 years.
Keep up the good work,
Al Markel
SFFD ret
What’s a Dalmatian to do?
It wasn’t Firefighter John who told me about the difference between firefighters and firemen. That lesson was drilled into me by my firefighter father as a kid, long before there was such a thing as “political correctness” or women in the Fire Department. And if you knew my Dad, you’d know there is nothing politically correct about the man.
As for the dalmatian, Firefighter John explained that to us. As the story goes, the dalmatian ran in front of the firefighters and their hand-drawn carts in the old days before there were sirens, kicking up enough noise for everyone to know what was going on, alerting them to a fire and summoning the community to help. I believe there was something unique about the breed’s bark that made it particularly suited to this task.
Chuck:
The Fairfax County, Virginia, Fourth of July parade in Fairfax City included quite a few fire trucks, pumpers, etc., including the County’s first bought ladder truck, vintage ?. The parade was great, including several dalmatians who seemed to enjoy the petting and licking of kids faces as much as the kids. In your locale, the government didn’t go to the dogs. Or did they?
“As the story goes, the dalmatian ran in front of the firefighters and their hand-drawn carts in the old days before there were sirens, ”
Uh, how’d the dogs know where the fire wuz?
Dirk said: “The only road block we have is maintaining/making new social connections. Anyone out there have any suggestions?”
To maintain social connections just have your daughter invite her friends over after they are done with school. She’ll have more free time, since she’ll be able to get more work done in less time. It is amazing how much time is wasted in public schools.
Most towns and cities have homeschooling groups. Find a couple local homeschooling groups. They typically have activities every week. A couple in our area have a park day. One meets every Tuesday afternoon, another meets every Thursday afternoon.
Good luck.