Did you learn to bow and curtsy when you were in elementary school?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

I can remember my 1st grade teacher teaching us to curtsy. Then, when we had a square dancing unit in phys-ed, we had a refresher course.

I guess they don't teach that in school anymore...

[AwakeAtLast]

1. I teach square dancing

to my 4th grades (I teach Music), so they learn that first.

:hi:

<Swing yer partner, do-si-do>

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. Promenade!

I always liked square dancing. But, of course, there eventually came a time when boys and girls balked at having to hold hands.

And I'll never forget when Cathy Baldwin swung her partner so hard that he lost his front teeth. :(

[Onceuponalife]

2. No, because I grew up in the US, not England

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. I grew up in the US...

and still live here.

I was reading a chapter of a book to my kid tonight which was about a school in pioneer Illinois. In the book, the schoolmaster held classes from 7am-6pm, and insisted that girls curtsy and boys bow and remove hats upon entering the school, greeting each other, and addressing the schoolmaster. Failing to do so would result in a "switching".

My kid feels really lucky tonight. :)

[SeattleGirl]

3. Had to learn to curtsey in grade school, AND we had square dancing

in PE all through school up until I graduated.

Too bad PE, whatever form it takes, seems to be the exception rather than the rule these days.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Kids really need PE to de-stress.

But the schools are all so worried about their image these days. It's sad...

[SeattleGirl]

9. Not to mention the fact that they (actually, the ones who hold the purse strings)

think that readin', writin', and 'rithmetic are the only things that need to be taught, as long as they are TAUGHT TO THE TESTS.

My sister who is closest to me in age and I talk about this quite a bit. We were both involved in sports (in addition to PE), art, music, etc.

I am convinced that you cannot have a well-rounded education without them.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. The schools around here are more inclined to teach kids

what to think, rather than how to think.

That's part of the reason I homeschool.

[SeattleGirl]

15. Yeah, there are a lot of schools like that.

I didn't know you homeschooled. Wow. I admire you! And I bet your kids got a lot out of it.

My daughter, who is now in college (community), wants to get a BA. She was contemplating going on to the University of Washington, but her advisor suggested she think about going to Seattle University instead. She has gotten info from them, and met with an advisor there, and I think that's what's she's going to do.

I'm VERY happy about that. That's where I got my BA, and in addition to it having much smaller classes than a large university, it's a Jesuit school, and their big thing is leadership, scholarship, and service. They WANT you to think for yourself. The WANT you to question things, including authority.

I hope she does end up going there for her last two years. She's a smart cookie, and I think she would absolutely thrive in that setting.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. A good friend of mine is a Jesuit priest...

Though I'm inclined to associate the Catholic Church with the right wing these days, there are some within the church who are doing their best to make it a more Christian institution.

My youngest thrives with homeschooling. My older boy didn't take to it as well; but I still think the program we used offered more than the local elementary and middle schools. He chose to attend the public high school; and it turned out to be a disaster for him. Despite that, we all learned a lot from both experiences.

[kath]

67. GofG, that's also part of the reason why we homeschool.

And the test-mania crap in schools is ridiculous.

[JTG of the PRB]

4. No, but I DID learn the finer points of finger painting in the 1st grade.

That counts for something, right?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. Sure! Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P94SEqCa0WQ

[enigmatic]

6. yep

I remember learning to bow and square dance when I was elementary school in the early 70's; playing Kickball in PE, too...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. I never understood why girls were supposed to curtsy instead of bow.

Is it to keep cleavage from spilling out of low-cut dresses?

[Vidar]

22. Cleavage in the first grade--how oddly impressive.

No bowing or dancing in my schools, though I learned ballroom, swing & tango later, on my own.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. LOL...

I was, of course, thinking of adult girls... :rofl:

Tango would be fun!

[realisticphish]

12. hell no

i went to elementary school in the early 90's, and there was not even a whiff of that kind of thing.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. That's too bad...

Square dancing is an important element of our culture.

[realisticphish]

17. i had to do square dancing in music class

i hated it; I greatly dislike line dancing of any kind. regular dancing is fine with me, but I don't like the music, or the group-based moves.

But we didn't do the bow/curtsy thing when we did it

[Heidi]

16. Yes.

We also learned to write a proper thank-you note. :hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

25. We also learned to use "shall" instead of "will"

Funny how that's become obsolete...

[Turn CO Blue]

51. And "may I?" instead of "can I?". And please and thank you, too.

[QMPMom]

18. Yes, we learned that in school. Southern Indiana school.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

28. Square dancing is probably pretty big there, too...

Is it not?

[QMPMom]

46. We had square dancing in PE class from grade 7 on. Hated every minute of it!

[Digit]

19. Remember Return of the Titans movie?

I had to square dance with Coach Yost and another coach.
He was NOT as nice looking as the actor portraying him in the movie, but a nice guy.
Yeah, bow to your partner...

Otherwise, my mother who was from Europe taught me to curtsey at a very young age.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. Salute the captain, curtsy to the Queen, touch the bottom of the submarine...

That jump-rope rhyme suddenly came to mind...

[fizzgig]

20. we learned line dancing in gym

but not square dancing

i have no idea how i learned to curtsy :shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. I'm not sure line dancing had been invented when I was in school...

The music we square danced to was bluegrass, though some preferred to call it country.

It'd be tough to square dance to the music people use for line dancing.

[treestar]

21. No

I was in school in the US in the 60s and 70s.

We were never taught how to bow or curtsy.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

31. I was in the US too...This was 1964

[philosophie_en_rose]

26. Nope.

I did learn to square dance, though.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. Did you all bow to your partners, then?

All our square dances began with "honor your partner", which was a basic bow/curtsy.

[philosophie_en_rose]

43. probably

I don't recall the specifics and was fairly terrible at it.

I certainly never learned to curtsy as a greeting or anything like that. This is Amurka, where we don't bow for nobody never. :)

[xmas74]

27. US,early to mid eighties, and yes.

We learned how to bow/curtsy, we learned how to square dance, a bit of ballroom, how to properly address others, how to write a letter, how to write a thank you note, etc.

By the time I was out of first grade I knew how to curtsy and how to waltz. My daughter has no idea how to do either and she just finished the first grade.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. Location has a lot to do with it, I think.

My sister was in school from the 70s through the early 80s. She never learned to square dance; and basic manners were all learned at home.

[xmas74]

41. Location:

Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I wonder...

[datasuspect]

32. yep, US early 70s

[GoddessOfGuinness]

35. What part of the US?

Based on the responses here, I'm wondering if more rural and suburban schools taught this than urban ones...

[datasuspect]

36. catholic school

chicago.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

37. Ah...That explains it.

Kids do learn their manners in Catholic school. :thumbsup:

[greatauntoftriplets]

38. I learned how to bow and scrape.

In reality, I had to face my high school graduating class audience and curtsy. I felt like a fool. Catholic School.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

48. LOL

Genuflect when you say that! :rofl:

[greatauntoftriplets]

49. Alas, the bad knee won't allow genuflecting anymore...

I also avoid church like the plague.

[deadparrot]

39. We had square dancing, but other than

"bow to your partner," "bow to your corner," there was no bowing or curtsying.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

54. When was this?

And where?

[deadparrot]

66. Catholic school,

St. Louis, Missouri, mid-to-late 1990s...yeah, I'm young. :)

[Book Lover]

40. NYC Catholic school in the 70's and 80's - nope on curtsy, yep on social dancing

We were taught a kajillion types of dancing in grade and high school: tarantella, waltz, foxtrot (I kid you not), reel dancing, Irish line dancing.... but no bowing or that like.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

56. That's really neat!

I don't think I've ever seen a tarantella...But I've seen the spider it's named for!

[annabanana]

42. Miss Dacy's Dance class. . (not school)

The little boys had to go too.. (I wore my first "high heels" and stockings ~ pre-pantyhose, my gawd)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

57. Taking a dance class

could help kids learn basic etiquette, and allow them to have fun while they're doing it. That's pretty neat!

[Sanity Claws]

44. Yes

We were expected to curtsy (girls) and bow (boys) whenever a teacher walked into the room. This was a Catholic grammar school in Queens, NY in the 1960s.
My Lord, we've come a long way, baby.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

58. We sure have...

Duck and cover!

[triguy46]

45. Yep. And 6th grade square dancing was HOT!!!!!!!!

:woohoo:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

59. I always liked it...

[Breeze54]

47. No but I was forced to take ballet! ugh!

I hated it and I hated the teacher. What an ass!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

60. That's a shame...

I don't think kids should be forced to take a particular style of dance or music.

[supernova]

50. Yes, we did

Southern rural school in the 60s and 70s.

We did learn our manners. Being poor or even middle class was no excuse.

There are still groups around here that have English/Scottish country dances. Anyone is free to join in. :-)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

61. That's neat!

Where in the South were you?

[EFerrari]

52. In fourth grade, the girls were unexpectedly rounded up

and taken to the multi - purposeroom and taught how to sit, stand and walk.

All I could think was, how could I have been SO WRONG all those years?

:rofl:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

63. OMG

What about the boys? Didn't they have to learn to act like "gentlemen"?

[EFerrari]

65. Hell no! They were probably playing tetherball

the whole time. lol

[southerncrone]

53. Yep. Back in the day when Physical Ed. meant moving your body, not sitting on bleachers.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

64. How things change...

[cynatnite]

55. Yeah, we learned when we did square dancing for gym n/t

[GRLMGC]

62. Yeah, actually

early to mid-nineties. I don't recall learning how to square dance. I think maybe a short lesson in 3rd or 4th grade.

[madrchsod]

68. yes

back in the fifties i had all that...my local thrift store has an entire collection of square dancing records from a local grade school...