Monthly Archives: September 2025
HISTORIC LEGEND: KING ALFRED AND THE CAKES
I grew up in Wantage, birthplace of England’s famed King Alfred the Great. Stories about him abound, and this was one of my favourites – even though it probably never happened. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Alfred-the-Cakes/
HISTORIC OCCUPATION: LIBRARIAN
A great resource for students of all ages, libraries – and librarians – have existed for millennia. https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/library/353384 https://www.ool.co.uk/blog/a-brief-history-of-libraries/ https://www.vox.com/explain-it-to-me/384584/what-do-librarians-do?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us https://www.brainson.org/episode/2023/12/13/check-it-out-the-history-of-childrens-libraries
TRIVIA TRAIL: COMPULSORY EDUCATION IN EUROPE
Question: Schools have long existed worldwide, in Europe, but compulsory attendance really only started up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Which country was the first to consider it desirable for its youth? Answer: Denmark, in 1739, with Prussia following suit in 1763, Austria in 1774, Liechtenstein in 1805, Greece in 1834), Sweden in 1842) […]
HISTORIC SCHOOLS: EDUCATION IN MEDIEVAL TIMES
https://historylearning.com/medieval-england/medieval-education/ https://www.studentsofhistory.com/education-in-the-middle-ages https://www.britainexpress.com/History/Medieval_Schools_and_Universities.htm
HISTORIC IDENTIFIERS: MIDDLE NAMES
Middle names are handy things for school administrators to have on record when it comes to avoiding mix-ups with students whose first and last personal designations are the same. But they don’t always help. Two boys in my first year at ‘big school’ had exactly the same name – as in first, middle, and last. […]
HISTORIC RESURGENCE: BABY NAMES
A new school year means new names on teachers’ registers, many of them, ‘old’ names that fell out of favour for a time, and personally, I’m delighted. When I started my teaching career in 1973, class lists occasionally contained possibly hippie-era inspired, potentially future therapy-inducing, appellations like Hamburger (a girl) and Morning Star (a boy) […]
Time Travelling With Kids 