Ben Franklin :: essays research papers

There was a man named Josiah Franklin. He owned a candle and soap shop in Boston, Massachusetts. The sign for the shop was shaped like a blue ball. Josiah had children, but there were often not living at home. Josiah invited guests to his home to talk and teach his children, but the guests were not aware that they were invited to teach the Franklin children. Both Josiah and his wife felt strongly about educating their children; they took their childrens' education very seriously. Benjamin, one of their children, always listened to the guests; he was a very bright child. Benjamin taught himself to read when he was only five years old. His parents wished that they could send Ben to school, but they were very poor. Once three very important men visited Josiah and told him of a new law which said that children must attend school. Josiah sent Ben to the Boston Latin School because the only expenses were books and fire wood. At the Latin School all the children were expected to learn fables by heart. The fables had lessons which the school master thought was an important part of learning. Ben's best friend's name was Nathan. Ben helped Nathan learn the fable "The Wolf and the Kid", while Ben learned "The Dog and his Shadow". At the time of the recital of the fables the school master said, "and Ben will recite "The Wolf and the Kid", which was Nathan's fable. Ben thought, "If I say that it is Nathan's fable, then the school master will get into trouble. If I recite the fable, then Nathan will get into trouble." Ben did nothing; he simply stood there looking up into the sky. Everyone said that Ben was lazy and that he could not even learn one fable. Josia h Franklin stood up and explained his son's behavior and the school master was very embarrassed. Josiah and Nathan's father both took their sons to the Writing School. Ben was good in every subject except math. An example of the type of math that Ben had trouble with is; 848 plus 262 equals 101010. Poor Ben would get a zero but his teacher would not explain the math to him. Ben loved science and frequently did experiments. His first experiment was paddles to make him swim faster. When he tried his newly invented paddles he found that although he could swim faster the paddles hurt his wrists.