Isaac's last day of daycare was June 18th. As a farewell gift the daycare director gave all of the children a book on their last day. It was a copy of The Real Mother Goose.
I haven't actually read Isaac a lot of nursery rhymes. I remember reading them when I was little or listening to my grandmother or mother recite them to me. I can recite quite a few now from memory. And I know that Isaac has been exposed to some at school because he has referenced them or come home singing the songs. But, since we let him choose what he wants to read most of the time, we have not focused on these or the folktales that most of us grew up hearing. And we need to do better.
Nursery rhymes and folktales are part of our common culture, our common heritage. They remind us of our common history. They can also unite two different cultures as people find common themes in the stories that their ancestors have told for hundreds of years.
The collection of rhymes that Isaac was given contains many obscure ones that are probably forgotten by many people. But it also has the rhymes that are well-known and still loved by children. We are going to start reading a few each night. One day maybe he will remember reading them and want to pass them on.
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