this is an intentional act and should be brought to the school principals attention... that's a book for children who ALREADY KNOW there is no Claus, NOT those that don't.
Posted on 09/24/2008 5:57:23 PM PDT by incredulous joe
My son is in forth grade and his class has been assigned a book by children's author Judy Blume.
The teacher, who is has several years teaching experience, but is in her first year at our school (a private Christian School), has prefaced her overview of the book and project to follow by stating that their is a 'spoiler' in the novel; essentially the book reveals the true nature of Santa Claus.
His teacher has gone to some pains to express to parents that the children wil not have an opportunity to find this out? I'm not exactly certain how she intends to cover this.
My son still believes in Santa and my wife and I would like to see if we can get another year of this for our boy. It all goes by so fast!
Our boy also devours books like bon-bons. He reads several grades over his head. If the book is put in front of him he will read it all the way through. I am not certain what the teacher's plan for avoiding the disclosure is, but if it were me in the class I would play it safe by making certain that they simply DO NOT read such a book.
I'd like to be loaded for bear when I discuss the issue with the teacher. From what I have heard about Judy Blume, I can tell you that I am not a particular fan, but I do not know that much and have only skimmed some of the author's work. It seems to me that there is so much great children's literature out there ~ why get caught up with a problem like this?
I have not got a copy of this book. Can somebody tell me about "Super Fudge" by Judy Blume and the Santa Claus disclosure?
Maybe I'm making something more of it than I should, nut I'd rather be certain.
And if he doesn't, you'd better tell him now because you seriously don't want him to be the last one on the playground to find out. That wouldn't be pretty :-p
A 9 year old that devours books above his grade level probably already has a very strong suspicion that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.
BTW, don’t let him watch the second season of cartoon version of “The Tick”, it will spoil it for him as well.
this is an intentional act and should be brought to the school principals attention... that's a book for children who ALREADY KNOW there is no Claus, NOT those that don't.
If your son devours books, he may wish to read other books by a particular author. In Judy Blume’s case, this would lead to books like Wifey and Forever, which can be described as “erotica/porn for pre-teens.” You should steer your son clear of Judy Blume.
at a certain point a child will understand that you have lied about SC and they will lose their trust in you.....4th grade seems too old to still believe......you are at risk....I read all Blume’s books to my two boys, been years though...they were very funny and my boys loved them
has she written books like that? shame on her
Seriously, I loved Tales of the Forth Grade Nothing and Superfudge.
If he reads as much as you say, then he's going to figure it out pretty quick. I would agree that there are several Blume books that I think are targeting kids not ready for certain info (Are you there God, It's me Margret) but the Fudge books are pretty safe.
“I have not got a copy of this book. Can somebody tell me about “Super Fudge” by Judy Blume and the Santa Claus disclosure?”
It’s been a long time since I read that book (late 1970s), but here is the gist of the Santa issue.
-Peter (the main character) is the older brother of the Fudge, who is about five or six in this story (Superfudge is the second of several novels about Peter).
-Peter’s in 5th grade now, and doesn’t believe anymore. Fudge, who is a handful to begin with, drives his older brother crazy by endless talking about what Santa is going to bring him.
-Near the very end of the book, on or about Christmas Day, Fudge makes a startling revelation to Peter and admits he only pretends to believe in order to make his parents happy.
I thought my middle son knew & was going to spoil it for his little brother, so I told him. You'd think he still believed for several years after that, even after his younger brother knew. He always loved playing make believe, so it was a fun time for him when he had the adults playing along.
BTW, I figured it out with my brother's help when I was 3, but we pretended to believe for a few years, cuz we didn't want the Santa presents to stop.
Just to soften the blow a little bit, most kids don’t “find out” that Santa doesn’t exist, they just kind of figure it out. I certainly don’t remember any shock moment, just one Christmas “Santa” was the magic, and the next “presents” left by “Santa” *wink, wink* was the magic.
I discovered it at a young age after noticing that “Santa” had identical handwriting to my mother...
Btw, I really enjoyed Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing (the first in the series) and Superfudge. Very funny stuff.
I couldn’t comment on her later books, though. I’d moved on to stuff like Starship Troopers by 5th grade. :-)
Agree with the others. Superfudge is fine. Even if your son does believe in Santa at this age (he may not, some children hide the fact that they “know” from their parents), I can’t imagine him entering 5th grade still believing.
Growing up as a military brat I had very few disadvantages. One of those few was that the families in our housing block switch tags for all the kids presents to avoid exactly that.
My mom told me about that trick they all used when I was a teenager.
At nine he probably already knows the truth but once you tell him the magic is over. Christmas is a family event and as long as you're willing to pretend then so will your son (while he is at home with his family), once you confront that neither of you can pretend anymore. So long as pretending is fun for you and for your son let it go. He'll get to tell his friends that he knows but his parents don't know that he knows and you get to pretend that he doesn't and you will both be happier for it.
You know your son better than anyone else in the world, if he ask and you can tell he expects a truthful answer then give it to him, if he doesn't, don't ruin it.
I really don't believe that any child will resent you for "lying" about Santa, once they know the truth they see the fun in it.
The book is fine, but don't make an issue about Santa unless he asks and you know he wants the truth.
I can assure you that many of the other children in the class are innocent in their belief in Santa Claus, as well, and I'm not the only parent with this concern.
Children in the class who may not believe may probably be instructed not to unravel this part of childhood for others, but you know how that goes.
I suspect that my son may realize that Santa is really the work and love of his parents, but I'm not sure? Regardless, I'd rather the truth be revealed by myself, rather than by the teacher.
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