Me: So do you know what the Labor Party is?

Bella: Nope.

Me: Well, what are the two main parties in the United States?

Bella: Fireworks?

Me: ?!?

Bella: Well they don’t do fireworks in England for the 4th of July and YOU SAID PARTY!

Me:!?!

Bella and I have been painstakingly going over her AP (Advanced Placement) European History SUMMER HOMEWORK. That’s right, she was given work to do over the summer, and in fact, some of it, that is, 62 blue notecards, one for each important term or person in the Italian Renaissance is due the first day of class. She is also expected to read five chapters in Birdsall S. Vialt’s Modern European History and answer twenty odd questions like, Define the term Cold War as it pertains to modern European history and What were the major economic issues plaguing Great britain after WWII and What is the basic premise of existentialism?

She will be tested on this information the second week of school.

?!?

and it is actually frightening me how little she knows about European history, so I suppose it’s a good thing. Can it be possible that she’s never ever heard of the Cold War? or communism? or Margaret Thatcher?

And I must admit, I’m learning a lot too, because before this, I never would have been able to Compare and contrast the Soviet Union under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev respectively. Besides it makes me laugh when she refers to Charles de Gaulle as “Gally.”

To see the entireity of her summer homework, click on the following links:

APEuropeanHistoryAssignment1of3

APEuropeanHistoryAssignment2of3

APEuropeanHistoryAssignment3of3