# What Songs Do Young Kids Sing In School? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258 "2010-08-14T16:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/1 "2010-08-14T16:36:56Z")
Back in my day when I was in kindergarten and first, second grade, we would sing songs in class (1969 -1972). We would sing songs like “Marching To Pretoria” (We’d actually sing this while walking around the block in the neighborhood. I guess back then teachers could take you off school ground if you were singing.) We’d do what I’d call folk songs, old song by like Stephen Foster, “Swanee River,” “Daisy Bell,” and fun songs like “Mairzy Doats,” and “Three Little Fishies.” I got to wondering what songs do little kids sing in school now-a-days? We never sang any of the popular songs of the day. You know that were hits on the charts. Do they sing the current rap songs? I can imagine a little 5 year old bleeping out the bad words. I am of course referring to songs the teachers would have the class sing, not ones they sing on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/2 "2010-08-14T16:55:12Z")
I can’t answer the OP, but here’s what I remember from when I was little: [_Bingo_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_(song)) [_Donna Donna_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Donna) [_Home On The Range_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_on_the_Range) [_Hava Nagila_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hava_Nagila) Various [Christmas carols](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_carol) A Halloween song that had these lyrics: _If you look very carefully There’s a goblin behind that tree But I must say don’t you run away 'Cause it might be me!_ [_Hanukkah_](http://www.bestchildrensmusic.com/lyrc_tts.htm) (#6) [_The Battle of New Orleans_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_New_Orleans) A song that had something like _WHOOP! de-diddle-dee-dandy-o_ in it [_The Poor Old Slave_](http://www.mikeleal.com/campsongs/campsongs7.html) . ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/3 "2010-08-14T17:01:23Z")
We sung that horribly manipulative One Tin Soldier. Did anyone else get subjected to that one? ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/4 "2010-08-14T18:14:14Z")
Back in the mid-90s it was Disney. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin…we sang them all the time. I remember we were singing a Beauty and the Beast song at the Christmas concert and the power went out and all the little kids didn’t know what to do, so we older ones (like grade 6+) kept on going and then they followed our lead. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/5 "2010-08-14T23:17:45Z")
When my 10YO was in pre-K/kindergarten, **Baby Beluga** and **The Wheels on the Bus** were popular. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/6 "2010-08-14T23:56:11Z")
We sang all the patriotic standards, of course. And some folk songs like “This Land is Your Land”, “Free To Be You and Me”, “Mairzy Doats”, etc. I remember “A Tisket A Tasket”, “Have You Ever Seen a Lassie”, “It’s a Small World”, “Little Bunny Foo Foo”, “Chicken Lips”, “She’ll Be Comin’ 'Round the Mountain”, and “Someone’s in the Kitchen With Dinah”. This would have been the late eighties. My kids look at me like I’m stupid if I start singing any of these except the patriotic ones. I think that’s about all they sing besides holiday music. There’s definitely no rap songs led by the teacher. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/7 "2010-08-15T00:01:46Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > We sung that horribly manipulative One Tin Soldier. Did anyone else get subjected to that one? What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/8 "2010-08-15T00:03:50Z")
They’re Unamerican. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/9 "2010-08-15T01:13:11Z")
I recently went to a sort of school Open House day in which the 4th graders sang a whole lot of songs that sounded a heck of a lot like “Free to be you and me.” ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/10 "2010-08-15T01:59:59Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > We sung that horribly manipulative One Tin Soldier. Did anyone else get subjected to that one? This was my elementary school graduation song. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/11 "2010-08-15T07:45:08Z")
I had music class from Grade 1 all the way through Grade 8, and we always sang, and occasionally even formed choirs. In fact, from Grade 3 through 6, we even had this radio program where we learned a new song every week. It was called _Song Time_ and was apparntly something produced by the British Columbia Department of Education. We learned lots of – foreign songs, such as Alive, Alive Oh!, Sur le Pont, Frere Jacques, Clair de la Lune, Scarborough Fair, etc., – folk songs, such as This Land is Your Land, Canaday-I-O, The Erie Canal, Sweet Betsy From Pike, Blood on the Saddle, etc., – tons of Christmas Carols in season; not only the familiar ones, such as Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem, etc., but also uncommon ones such as The Cherry Tree Carol, O Sanctissma, The Huron Carol, Carol of the Bells, etc., – religious songs, since I was in Catholic school back in the 60s, there was lots of Sebastian Temple stuff such as Spirit of God, Whatsoever You Do to the Least of My Brothers, Joy is Like the Rain, I Cannot Come to the Banquet, and later on in public school, such stuff as Amazing Grace, etc., – pop songs in the early-mid 70s, such as Big Bad Leroy Brown, Tie A Yellow Ribbon (Round the Old Oak Tree), A Horse With No Name, and the Women’s Libbers in the class held out for I Am Woman (although none of us guys would actually sing this), etc. From what I understand, in this Province, there is no such thing as Music/Singing class anymore. I find that to be kind of sad. . ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/12 "2010-08-17T03:42:02Z")
“Eatin’ Goober Peas”, “Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue”, “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”, wtf was the name of that one–“You get a line, I’ll get a pole–” something about a crawdad hole----another one about a “PawPaw Patch”. Agh! I’m so old! I don’t remember my kids talking about any songs except maybe the “Elephant Song” in the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/13 "2010-08-17T03:52:41Z")
> [@hellpaso](#): > > “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” My dad used to sing: _My Bonnie has tuberculosis My Bonnie has only one lung My Bonnie can cough up a goober And twirl it around on her tongue!_ > [@hellpaso](#): > > , wtf was the name of that one–“You get a line, I’ll get a pole–” something about a crawdad hole- [_Crawdad Song_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBKv7F32ohQ&feature=related) > [@hellpaso](#): > > —another one about a “PawPaw Patch”. [_Paw Paw Patch_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJJ7584dCMQ), or _Way Down Yonder In The Paw Paw Patch_ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/14 "2010-08-17T04:30:09Z")
We sang [_The Steelers Polka_](http://www.steelergridiron.com/fanzone/audio/fightsong.html) in music class. (The original version from the '70s) ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/15 "2010-08-17T04:51:29Z")
We sang Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” but I don’t think that was on the curriculum. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/16 "2010-08-17T12:25:47Z")
Among others, we were all organized by the teachers to sing “Yellow Submarine” together once a week. This was in the mid 80’s. I had never heard it before and remember thinking at the time that it was the stupidest fucking thing I had ever heard. The lyrics were so dumb my friends and I actually took the time to mock them during recess, I thought one of the teachers had made it up. When I told my parents about it they got extremely excited and broke out the record. I was horrified that they actually owned a copy of such a lame song. I think my dad (a HUUUUUUGE Beatles fan) actually called the school and commended them on the song choice. I still think it’s a stupid song. I imagine some burned-out ex-hippie of a teacher chose it. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/17 "2010-08-17T12:46:18Z")
Wow such memories…_Eating Goober Peas_, _Just Before The Battle Mother_, _The Erie Canal_, and such. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-do-young-kids-sing-in-school/550258/18 "2010-08-17T15:22:58Z")
Blowing in the Wind, at least until we pulled troops out of Vietnam. Another Brick in the Wall was something we sang at a much later age and you didn’t want the principal or teachers to catch you singing it.