Herein lies Unschooling at it's finest!!!
The little boy has been reading almost nothing but Calvin and Hobbes comics (for about the last two months) during his independent reading time. And really, it's quite understandable, and his mother did check out the first anthology for him at the library, and...
what could be funnier to a not quite 8 year old boy than a comic about a 6 year old boy and his stuffed tiger?
I, once, at the wonderful
INHOME Conference, heard
CALVIN & HOBBES referred to as "the ultimate unschooling" comic strip - here's a bit about Mrs. Wordworm (Calvin's teacher) from
Wikipedia's entry on Calvin & Hobbes:
"Miss Wormwood is Calvin's world-weary teacher, named after the junior devil in
C. S. Lewis'
The Screwtape Letters.
[1] She perpetually wears polka-dotted dresses, and is another character who serves as a foil to Calvin's mischief. Calvin, when in his
Spaceman Spiff persona, sees Miss Wormwood as a slimy, often dictatorial alien...Miss Wormwood is rarely sympathetic to the trouble Calvin has in school, and comes across as a rather strict, sour character. She often calls on Calvin when no one raises their hand to catch him off guard. Calvin either replies an excuse ("Hard to say, Ma'am. I think my cerebellum just fused."), or spaces out completely, usually in one of his alter egos. She is quick to send Calvin to the principal's office at the first sign of trouble. She is also a heavy smoker—"Rumor has it she's up to two packs a day, unfiltered,"— according to Calvin, who apparently takes joy in being the reason why Miss Wormwood mixes different stress-related medications, drinks
Maalox straight from the bottle, and is waiting for retirement (one strip has her chanting in her head, "Five years until retirement, five years until retirement, five years until retirement..."). Regarding the difficulties of reining in rambunctious students, she once commented that "it's not enough that we have to be disciplinarians. Now we need to be psychologists." After Calvin once declared that school was a big waste of time, she tried catching him while he yelled into the hallway, "Help! It's the
Thought Police!" Watterson says that he feels a great deal of sympathy for Miss Wormwood-given that the strip gives so much attention to playful imagination, Miss Wormwood may represent the perspective of the "real world", and its frustrations in trying to adapt to imagination."
There are hundreds of fan sites out there (just google Calvin & Hobbes) but one of the best I've found is
this one where you can create your own strip, among other wonderful things!
The latest C&H compilation we checked out from our local library has gotten the young man on a Hippocratic Oath kick...and as I never went into pre-med, nor did I complete any H.S. science beyond Biology (and a really worthless class on Earth Sciences - which looked fascinating in the class descriptions at my college prep H.S. but was hideously boring thanks to the Mr. Wormwood-esque teacher) I'm not sure if I'd ever actually seen it in print!
If you can read Greek, more power to ya, if not scroll down further...
Read it here or below:
WIKIPEDIA on the Hippocratic Oath:In the original Greek, it reads,
“
Ὄμνυμι Ἀπόλλωνα ἰητρὸν, καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν, καὶ Ὑγείαν, καὶ Πανάκειαν, καὶ θεοὺς πάντας τε καὶ πάσας, ἵστορας ποιεύμενος, ἐπιτελέα ποιήσειν κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κρίσιν ἐμὴν ὅρκον τόνδε καὶ ξυγγραφὴν τήνδε.
Ἡγήσασθαι μὲν τὸν διδάξαντά με τὴν τέχνην ταύτην ἴσα γενέτῃσιν ἐμοῖσι, καὶ βίου κοινώσασθαι, καὶ χρεῶν χρηίζοντι μετάδοσιν ποιήσασθαι, καὶ γένος τὸ ἐξ ωὐτέου ἀδελφοῖς ἴσον ἐπικρινέειν ἄῤῥεσι, καὶ διδάξειν τὴν τέχνην ταύτην, ἢν χρηίζωσι μανθάνειν, ἄνευ μισθοῦ καὶ ξυγγραφῆς, παραγγελίης τε καὶ ἀκροήσιος καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ἁπάσης μαθήσιος μετάδοσιν ποιήσασθαι υἱοῖσί τε ἐμοῖσι, καὶ τοῖσι τοῦ ἐμὲ διδάξαντος, καὶ μαθηταῖσι συγγεγραμμένοισί τε καὶ ὡρκισμένοις νόμῳ ἰητρικῷ, ἄλλῳ δὲ οὐδενί.
Διαιτήμασί τε χρήσομαι ἐπ' ὠφελείῃ καμνόντων κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κρίσιν ἐμὴν, ἐπὶ δηλήσει δὲ καὶ ἀδικίῃ εἴρξειν.
Οὐ δώσω δὲ οὐδὲ φάρμακον οὐδενὶ αἰτηθεὶς θανάσιμον, οὐδὲ ὑφηγήσομαι ξυμβουλίην τοιήνδε. Ὁμοίως δὲ οὐδὲ γυναικὶ πεσσὸν φθόριον δώσω. Ἁγνῶς δὲ καὶ ὁσίως διατηρήσω βίον τὸν ἐμὸν καὶ τέχνην τὴν ἐμήν.
Οὐ τεμέω δὲ οὐδὲ μὴν λιθιῶντας, ἐκχωρήσω δὲ ἐργάτῃσιν ἀνδράσι πρήξιος τῆσδε.
Ἐς οἰκίας δὲ ὁκόσας ἂν ἐσίω, ἐσελεύσομαι ἐπ' ὠφελείῃ καμνόντων, ἐκτὸς ἐὼν πάσης ἀδικίης ἑκουσίης καὶ φθορίης, τῆς τε ἄλλης καὶ ἀφροδισίων ἔργων ἐπί τε γυναικείων σωμάτων καὶ ἀνδρῴων, ἐλευθέρων τε καὶ δούλων.
Ἃ δ' ἂν ἐν θεραπείῃ ἢ ἴδω, ἢ ἀκούσω, ἢ καὶ ἄνευ θεραπηίης κατὰ βίον ἀνθρώπων, ἃ μὴ χρή ποτε ἐκλαλέεσθαι ἔξω, σιγήσομαι, ἄῤῥητα ἡγεύμενος εἶναι τὰ τοιαῦτα.
Ὅρκον μὲν οὖν μοι τόνδε ἐπιτελέα ποιέοντι, καὶ μὴ ξυγχέοντι, εἴη ἐπαύρασθαι καὶ βίου καὶ τέχνης δοξαζομένῳ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐς τὸν αἰεὶ χρόνον. παραβαίνοντι δὲ καὶ ἐπιορκοῦντι, τἀναντία τουτέων.
”
Original, translated from Greek.[1]“
I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.
To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.
I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.
To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug nor give advice which may cause his death.
Nor will I give a woman a pessary to procure abortion.
But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.
I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.
In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.
All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.
If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.Thank you Bill Watterson & Calvin & Hobbes for teaching my 7 11/12ths year old the Hippocratic Oath! He actually wants to memorize it!!! ...more on that later...perhaps even a video!
