Archive for November, 2009
One of my favorite childhood memories is when my parents would read me my bedtime story. I could never fall asleep without at least a short tale, but it seems like this time-tested tradition is falling to the wayside. Today kids are content on going to sleep to the glow of their Game Boy or the sounds of their iPod.
Reading to your child is important, as it lays the groundwork for a lifelong devotion to literature and education in general. If your child is resistant to sitting down to listen to a story, try to make it more engaging for them. Read the characters’ voices in a different tone, or try bringing the story to life through the use of hand puppets.
One of the classes I took in college was a media history class with one of the wackiest professors on campus. Everyday he would give us some random fact and, ironically, these are the things that I remember best from that class. Although everyone else in the class already knew this, I learned how the stuffed bear got its current name.
The term teddy bear comes from President Theodore Rooselvelt, commonly referred to as Teddy. While on a hunting trip in Mississippi, Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear that his hunting mates had staged for him. After a flurry of publicity and a detailed political cartoon, shop owners started branding their stuff bears with the President’s nickname.