To be shocked that not even one y4 child knew the meaning of the word velvet?

[Utterlybananas333]

My sister is a teacher in a South London primary school, she is a year four teacher of around 30 8 to 9-year-olds. She was recently describing her disbelief over the fact that not a single child knew what velvet meant? There were some crazy guesses, and lots of children who thought it was cake (probably relating to red velvet). Is it just the fact that children and adults don't talk anymore? That nobody reads anymore? Or even watches educational TV programs? Would your child know?

I've just asked my teenager and he's passed with flying colours... he even rushed to fetch a Warhammer box to show me T'au Ochre

He's doing surprisingly well on the textiles for someone with sensory issues, and he did know that he hates the feel of velvet.

I certainly knew what velvet was at that age, one of best fancy outfits back then was a satin mini skirt with a velvet blouse. Maybe they/their parents don't wear velvet. I don't think it's really dated but it does to be more luxury than cotton or nylon. Being London it may be a not very well off area and can't afford or have any occsion to wear velvet.

Not really surprising as I often have difficulty finding them in supermarkets. It was touch and go whether I’d get my neeps and tatties this new year.

Just thought this was amusing - MN is featuring an ad from Cotswold Company that has velvet cushions. Photo attached.

Turnips and swedes taste very different to each other. They are also different colours. Turnips have white flesh, swedes have yellow.

Unless we, as parents, teach our DC things like this, of course they will unlikely know. The same with anything, at an early age we learn so much vocabualary from our family.

Before the IT age I knew most capital cities at primary age, just from a simple turnaround by hand map, also important events through encyclopedias.

Now, it's all so different and the focus on what they enjoy to a prolonged stage.

It does also does come from parents' own knowledge, beliefs, what they've got from education.

As educators we are often in disbelief at the lack of basic knowledge children have, so before being able to get on with the curriculum we have to do and are accounted for, we have to take so many steps back to teach foundation vocabulary before we even start.

No judgement, especially for none English speaking DC with different lifestyles, but teachers have the pressure of a quick whip through of the basics to then be judged by outcome of results.

Of course there are adjustments made but trying to enable every child to achieve their best means so many modifications and personal stepping in to help with this, it's just hard! Xxx

I’ve been teaching for over forty years. What’s scary about teaching vocabulary????? It’s always been our job. Bizarre comment

I know a song called Give Me Back My Gabardine Mac, It's No Good To You.

I really don’t think children needed to wait for the Internet to learn about animals.

Way back in my 1960s childhood my parents ensured we had a huge illustrated book on the animal world. Plus others on birds, the natural world, astronomy. As well as illustrated dictionaries and a complete set of the Children’s Britannica (an encyclopaedia covering history, geography, literature, science, and more general knowledge than you could shake a stick at).

And the beauty of books, in contrast to Google, was that they included information you were not actively seeking out, rather than only providing you with the specific thing you asked for. In a bookish household, or one with at least access to a library, it was really easy to be well informed as a 20th century child.

This thread proves the problem we have with general knowledge, reading comprehension and common sense

Are you very young? Could be a Scottish thing.

Hrft but this is the dress a 3 Yr old relative had for Christmas. She loved it and it looked gorgeous
share.google/zTfRZTUy3nIYC2U4l

You must be a very English English Lit Academic -in Scotland haggis, neeps (translation turnips in English), and tatties is eaten annually on Burns Night Jan25th (that’s Robert Burns the famous Scottish poet).
Good turnips are harder to find these days, I think because they were left in the ground to get big and round and sweet through the winter but now are harvested earlier to prepare for a new crop.

Silly me, as a toddler I should have been finding these books and reading them to myself 🙄not everyone has parents who do this sort of thing. Some kids grow up in houses where most of entertainment is the telly and when I was a kid it was quite limited. I think now there is so much more that everyone can aceess

Lol I'm 48... 🤷🏼‍♂️

Me too

Little girls don't wear ribbons anymore do they?

In the 1970s every little girl had their hair in ribbons and you would have velvet, satin, embroidered even organza mesh with satin 'stripes'.

Can I just muddy the water, velvet is a type of tenderising mainly used in Chinese cooking.

I’m 51 and I have known gabardine since 7 as it was part of my school uniform! It was used as a noun for our coat ie ‘you’re not wearing your gabardine’. Virtually never heard it since though!

Never heard of cavalry twill, but know that twill relates to fabric.

Ah, sorry; I totally misread that!

I think everyone talking about the prevalence or otherwise of velvet, or turnips, or whatever, are missing the point, or rather that is the point.

Books expose you to things outside day to day life. If an 8/9 year old reads plenty, they’ll come across velvet. It’s a beautifully descriptive, adjectival word as well as a literal thing which may or may not be in the child’s world.

That’s the point OP was making wasn’t it? That it denotes a lack of reading. Now I wouldn’t expect the whole class to know it, but back in my day there would be at least a handful of avid readers who would.

My daughter is an avid reader but prefers modern books. Therefore hasn’t come across the word velvet in any way other than a red velvet cake. Not knowing one word does not necessarily mean all the children do not read.

Velveteen Rabbit is British, children's classic, 1921. Bookworm here. I know of it but have never read it.

It's modern life. I bet they could teach you a thing or two about computers. I hope you get my gist.

I can’t help wondering how many MNers ever buy or cook turnips!

They go very nicely in a vegetable soup or lamb stew, but hardly a very popular vegetable in the U.K. nowadays. Shame, because it’s locally grown, seasonal, and keeps very well, even just a half in the salad drawer.

I read not long ago that until fairly recently they were pretty much shunned in France, since during WW2 turnips were one of the few foods left to them by the invading Nazis. But lately I’ve seen plenty in French supermarkets.

I don't think it denotes lack of reading at all. If you think of the type of books 8/9 year olds are exposed to nowadays, particularly boys, velvet is unlikely to feature very prominently.