For Classical Homeschoolers: A Laugh

I absolutely had to share this hysterical moment with you. Perhaps it was the hour of the day and the fact that we’d been doing IEW for at least 90 minutes—but I laughed so hard I nearly cried.

A teeny bit of history: we’ve been looking at Latin derivatives and were discussing, just this week, that the most proper meaning for the word “vulgar” is the definition “common.” I think I probably did explain that it has come to mean “offensive, indecent, risque, etc.”--unfortunately a biting commentary upon American “common” culture. Nevertheless, I wanted them to understand that the word comes from the Latin word “vulgus”--for “common people.”

Given that history, the next part might now be funny to you: Brandt and I were working to finish his second paragraph for “Houses in Colonial America,” his Essentials oral report/writing assignment for this week and the next. He had written most of the sentence but needed my help finishing it.

“Rooms in colonial homes often served a dual purpose; when the colonists put their rooms ‘to rest’ by moving all of the furniture to the walls, then they could use them . . .”

I was playing teacher, trying to draw out some ideas: “Brandt, what types of things did the colonists do after they’d put their rooms ‘to rest?’”

Brandt: “Uh . . . Normal things?”

Me: “Like?”

Brandt: “by moving all of the furniture to the walls, then they could use them . . . for vulgar purposes.”

Perhaps the funniest part was the bewildered look on his face when I began to chuckle and then giggle and then choke with laughter. I’ll leave the funny rating to you. If you’ve had a long week of schooling—or if you are a grandparent who, by definition, thinks that everything is adorable, I hope it makes you smile!