Five little ducks...
Colleen Porter
There is a children's song that they really enjoy which goes,
Five little ducks went out to play
Over the hill and far away.
Mother duck says, "quack, quack, quack."
Four little ducks came waddling back.
And it's repeated, losing a duck each time, until no ducks
come waddling back.
At that point, the traditional version says, "Father duck
says, QUACK QUACK QUACK! Five little ducks came waddling back."
I dislike this version, as it seems to teach kids to ignore mom
and only listen to dad. As one who is frequently a single
parent, I can't afford that kind of attitude.
If I have to sing it (only because the kids at preschool ask
for it; I'd never sing it at my own volition) I do, "Mother
duck says, ther's chocolate ice cream for dessert! Five
little ducks came waddling back." But another mother
pointed out that this teaches them to respond to food.
Does anyone have any other alternative endings?
Colleen Kay Porter
cpo...@afn.org...............http://www.afn.org/~cporter/
mom to Lorissa (4), Elaine (6), Rebecca (16), Julia (18) and Phillip (22)
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Sometimes I like to put the sand of doubt into the oyster of
my faith" --Brother Cadfael
Claire Petersky
On 30 Mar 1998, Colleen Porter wrote:
> At that point, the traditional version says, "Father duck
> says, QUACK QUACK QUACK! Five little ducks came waddling back."
>
> I dislike this version, as it seems to teach kids to ignore mom
> and only listen to dad. As one who is frequently a single
> parent, I can't afford that kind of attitude.
[snip]
> Does anyone have any other alternative endings?
My kids sing this all the time (most recently, in the car on Friday), and
I have never, never heard the version with Father duck. We learned this
song from Raffi, and have the Raffi song book for it. In that version,
after all the little ducks have left, Mother Duck goes on a long silent
search for her little ducks. Finally when Mother Duck goes quack, quack,
quack, then all five of her ducks come back -- with all their little
ducklings.
For my kids, this song is not about patriarchal authority, it's that you
can grow up, go away, and you can still come back and visit mom.
-- Claire Petersky (pete...@halcyon.com)
"Present moment, wonderful moment" -- Thich Nhat Hanh
"Here I am" -- Genesis XXII 11
Angelk40
Again, I refer people to Trout Fishing in America's work. On
the disc/tape/album "Big Trouble" they do this song with the
Mama Duck doing all the quacking.
So it would be "Mama duck calls 'quack quack quack quack'"
and all of the 5 little ducks come back.
*****
Karla
Mom to James (8) and Micah (6)
"Sometimes G-d's greatest gift is unanswered prayers."
Krista Zeidler
>From http://www.stairway.org/kidsongs I found the following
last verse:
Sad mother duck went out one day
Over the hill and far away
The sad mother duck said "Quack, quack, quack."
And all of the five little ducks came back.
Krista
Hadass Eviatar
Colleen Porter wrote:
>
> There is a children's song that they really enjoy which goes,
>
> Five little ducks went out to play
> Over the hill and far away.
> Mother duck says, "quack, quack, quack."
> Four little ducks came waddling back.
>
> And it's repeated, losing a duck each time, until no ducks
> come waddling back.
>
> says, QUACK QUACK QUACK! Five little ducks came waddling back."
>
> I dislike this version, as it seems to teach kids to ignore mom
> and only listen to dad. As one who is frequently a single
> parent, I can't afford that kind of attitude.
>
The version that I learned from Rafi's daycare doesn't have a father
in it at all. It goes like this:
Five little ducks swam away one day
Over the hills and far away
Old mother duck said Quack quack quack
Four little ducks came swimming back.
Etc. until there are no little ducks. Then it goes:
No little ducks swam away one day
Over the hills and far away
Old mother duck said Quack quack quack
All the little ducks came swimming back.
Will this do?
Be well, Hadass, Ima to Rafi, 2 years.
(posted & e-mailed)
--
Dr. Hadass Eviatar (XX) mailto:evi...@ibd.nrc.ca
National Research Council of Canada Phone: (204) 984 - 4535
Institute for Biodiagnostics Fax: (204) 984 - 7036
435 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg,MB,R3B 1Y6 http://www.ibd.nrc.ca/~eviatar
Obligatory disclaimer: NRC wouldn't dream of saying a thing like that.
T68b
We always sang the last verse as "mother duck went out one day, over
the hills and far away, mother duck says q.q.q and all the little ducks
came waddling back..."
One child changed it to "sad mama duck .......(and sang slowly and
sadly)..... Never heard of the father duck part!!!!
Peggy Rogers
Colleen Porter wrote:
> There is a children's song that they really enjoy which goes,
>
> Five little ducks went out to play
> Over the hill and far away.
> Mother duck says, "quack, quack, quack."
> Four little ducks came waddling back.
>
> And it's repeated, losing a duck each time, until no ducks
> come waddling back.
>
> At that point, the traditional version says, "Father duck
> says, QUACK QUACK QUACK! Five little ducks came waddling back."
>
> I dislike this version, as it seems to teach kids to ignore mom
> and only listen to dad. As one who is frequently a single
> parent, I can't afford that kind of attitude.
>
> If I have to sing it (only because the kids at preschool ask
> for it; I'd never sing it at my own volition) I do, "Mother
> duck says, ther's chocolate ice cream for dessert! Five
> little ducks came waddling back." But another mother
> pointed out that this teaches them to respond to food.
>
> Does anyone have any other alternative endings?
One suggestion, Colleen--the mother duck can say "quack, quack, quack"
for the first five times, and then she can get mad and yell, "QUAAACK,
QUAAAACK, QUAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!" At the end. Maybe that's not the best
lesson, either, but isn't it what we do lots of times? Or maybe the
mother duck could say "Let's go swimming!" or "I've got a new book
to read you," or "Who wants to learn to roller skate?" or "Do you
want to finger paint now?" (You could vary it, of course, according
to what your next activity was going to be.)
* * * * * * * * * * * Peggy Rogers * * * * * * * * * * *
* krogers?@xmission.com (Humans! remove the ? to reply!) *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The lot of humans is explaining." --Durant Gullick
Phlip
Colleen Porter wrote:
>I dislike this version, as it seems to teach kids to ignore mom
>and only listen to dad.
It sounds to me like the song wanted a happier ending than
all the little ducks got eaten by something. Suggest each time
you sing the song alternate between mom and dad for the roles?
********
Mother's Day.
Iris likes /pollo al la brasa/ - rotisserie chicken.
I snagged a blank card at Rizzoli's with a painting of a huge chicken
on it and a tiny little barn for scale. Ashley was 2.5 months old.
While we were waiting for my mom to come over, Iris taught me this
South American nursery rhyme (forgive my Spanish spelling):
Los pollitos dicen
pio pio pio
Quando tienes humbre
quando tienes frio
La mama rebuscar
el maize y triga
Respuestes embriaga
hasta el otra dia
(Little chicks they say
Pio pio pio
When they are hungry
when they are freezy
Their mama looks for
corn and wheat for them
Covers them with hugs
until another day)
Then I filled out the inside of the card, and waited for the card
ceremony.
My mom came over with a video camera, and taped us singing the
song. Then Iris read this in the card:
Los pollitos dicen
pio pio pio
You ate my mommy
en la madre dia
-- Phlip
======= http://users.deltanet.com/~tegan/home.html =======
-- temporomandibular joint disorder
keeping the neighbors awake again? --
Keith and Margaret Howe
Why not teach both endings? Sing one version about Daddy duck & one about
Mommy duck.
Colleen Porter wrote in message <6foahf$cd0$1...@maya.ece.ufl.edu>...
Stef Maruch
>> I dislike this version, as it seems to teach kids to ignore mom
>> and only listen to dad.
>The version that I learned from Rafi's daycare doesn't have a father
>in it at all.
One could also switch the mother and father parts. Assuming that didn't
make the mother seem like a nag or something...
--
Stef ** rational/scientific/philosophical/mystical/magical/kitty **
** st...@cat-and-dragon.com <*> http://www.bayarea.net/~stef **
cohenms
How about *this* affront to stay-at-home motherhood:
"Clap hands, clap hands, 'til Daddy comes home
Clap hands, clap hands, 'til Daddy comes home
'cause Daddy has money and Mommy has none
Clap hands, clap hands, 'til Daddy comes home"
My mother-in-law likes that version. When I sing it I change it to:
"'cause Daddy and Mommy and Baby have FUN!"
--Sharon