Stark Raving Madeleine

Rare is it that curse words even pop into my head, much less out of my mouth, but that doesn’t stop me appreciating George Carlin and his “Seven Dirty Words”. It’s obvious that this is a man who loves words, loves language, and is endlessly fascinated with how we communicate, or rather, don’t communicate.

So where does a ninth-grade dropout get such a voracious love of language?

I once heard George Carlin give an interview where he told how his mother would read the paper and when she came across an article that was well-written she would call him into her bedroom and have him sit on her bed while she read aloud, enthusiastically sharing with him her joy in word choices and language usage. Saying things like, “Doesn’t that word just cut through to the meaning…” and “Look at how that phrase captures the exact feeling…”, Ms. Carlin not only helped educate young George on vocabulary, grammar, and language, but sharing her interest made learning exciting, and is an excellent way to create a strong bond between child and parent.

So how can I get my child interested in learning?

My own parents were great lovers of learning. To them, life was full of exciting things to be discovered, shared, discussed. Genuine enthusiasm is catching.

I remember Stark Raving Mum dramatically reading aloud Edgar Allen Poe, followed by a discussion on haunting language, meter, and the effectiveness of repetition. How mere words could make such a spooky story is surprisingly interesting to seven year old girls.

And when Stark Raving Sister asked how wheels on a car turned freely and stayed attached, Stark Raving Dad followed with… “Good question, let’s take it apart and see.” Off he went to get a ball bearing and we took it apart. That’s pretty cool stuff.

So, like Ms. Carlin, Stark Raving Parents understand that learning isn’t limited to stuffy classrooms with blackboards and droning teachers. Whether it’s the physics of a Backside 540 air skateboard trick, or the telling body language of lying politicians, or how words can sound terrible but have mundane meaning (great for insults - You… Black-eyed, Star-worted Scabious!), life is full of exciting things to learn, share it with your kids.

Tags: Bohemian Baby, Comedian, Genius, George Carlin, Grammar, Language, Love, Parenting, Phonics, Seven Words You Can't Say, Vocabulary