It’s comforting when Scholastic, the elementary school paper of record, is aligned with one’s household curriculum. Inside is a full spread on seasonal weather sounds, including foley instructions for simulating Mother Nature: “Do you want to make a sound like hail? Tap your fingers on the floor or table.” The back page introduces the useful term “onomatopoeia,” and asks young readers to single out examples from the sentences in which they appear. This is a nice contrast with a music textbook we encountered a year or so back. It sought to distinguish musical sounds from noises. Why introduce judgement and hierarchy at such an early age?
An ongoing series cross-posted from instagram.com/dsqt.