Harry Potter and the Holy Places of Jerusalem and Nazereth

Last night just as I had finished reading the boy his bed time story (continuing the first Harry Potter book) he said something that was so completely out of context and surprising that I had to ask him to repeat it. Not because I didn’t hear him but because I couldn’t believe what my six year old had said.

I’d just finished the bit about the sorting hat and decided that it was a good place to stop so I replaced the book mark, closed the book and said that it was time for him to go to sleep.

”Dad” he said, “tell me about the Crimean war.”

I couldn’t believe it. I certainly hadn’t introduced him to it (knowing very little about it indeed) and it was unlikely that Mrs. England Project had so it must have been his school. But surely not; a modern state school teaching 6 year olds about such things?

”I don’t know much about it” I said. “How do you know about it?”

”School” he replied. Blimey, I thought.

Not wanting to get all regimental on you quite yet it turns out that the Crimean war was only discussed in brief to set the context for the great Florence Nightingale who was the actual subject matter but still, at least the boy has come back home from school with a thirst to find out about something.

I promised him that I would find out more and tell him about it and, thanks to the wonder that is google, I found this (why I didn’t go to wikipedia I don’t know but hey, you end up where you end up).

The boy is in for a show tonight what with a thin red line tipped with steel, Scarlett’s charge with his outnumbered Scots Greys and Dragoon Guards and that charge by the Light Brigade.

I’m told there’s a rather nice poem about that last one.

Well, the boy enjoyed it. I have written The Battle of Balaklava For Six Year Olds and made it available here as a word document.