Admiral of the Children's Republic

By Aleksandr Makarov

"The Admiral of the Children's Republic" is a captivating and inspiring book based on the real-life experiences of the author. After returning from his extensive travels to Odessa, he decides to dedicate himself to educating children and takes up a position as a labor discipline teacher in a school. However, his approach to education transcends conventional teaching methods.

The book's main character, an old sailor, enters an ordinary school with an extraordinary mission—to teach children the value of hard work and to instill a love for labor. Utilizing his rich life experience and unconventional teaching methods, he establishes the "Children's Republic," a unique pedagogical system that captures the imagination of both students and teachers alike.

"The Admiral of the Children's Republic" is not merely a narrative of the author's pedagogical experience but also a profound reflection on the importance of labor in children's lives and the correct approach to their education. The significance and relevance of this book were recognized when Alexander Makarov was awarded the Korney Chukovsky Prize in 2021.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aleksandr Makarov
• Release date: May 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224667895

Aleksandr Makarov

Makarov Alexander Vladimirovich - writer, journalist from Odessa. Author of adventure and educational books for children and youth: Author of books: "Young Antiquary Course" ("Young Antiquary School") -2009. Grani-T Publishing House, Coins from Grandfather's Chest ("A chest full of coins") - 2010, "Grandfather goes to school" 2010, "Fun journalism for children and adults" 2011 "Computer programs for writers" 2013 year, "Zone of absolute happiness", "A chest full of coins", "Two and love", "Take off the film" 2017, "The last mistake of the emperor", "Order of the Black digger", "Signs of fate", "Territory of scorched love", "The Tale of Sasha", "The Secret of the Golden Suitcase", "The Lame Gladiator" - 2018 and a number of other books published in Ukraine, Russia and the USA.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Admiral of the Children's Republic

Chapter 1. Cold shower

Chapter 2. Breaking to repair

Chapter 3. Igniting gaze

Chapter 4. Karl Marx candy bar

Chapter 5. Pedagogical showdowns

Chapter 6. We will take a different path

Chapter 7. About a rat that looks like a horse and secret instructions

Chapter 8. Surprising means winning

Chapter 9. Something must be done

Chapter 10. The principle of pickled cucumber

Chapter 11. Learning about democracy

Chapter 12. About grades and hussars

Chapter 13. Money is everything. Currency for little geniuses

Chapter 14. Camels and dunes

Chapter 15. How a fly turned into a spider

Chapter 16. Faberge School

Chapter 15. Brainstorming and defectors.

Chapter 17. Hero of the day

Chapter 18. Order named after me

Chapter 19. Inspection

Chapter 20. The Golden Paperclip

Alexander Makarov

Admiral of the Children's Republic

Although we travel all over the world in search of beauty, we must first find it within ourselves.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Instead of a preface

A VERY UNUSUAL TEACHER comes to an ordinary Odessa school for the ordinary children you see in your yard every day. It so happened that a former sailor goes to work as a school teacher. But getting kids interested today is not so easy. How to awaken their desire to learn, and will the students believe the old sea wolf?

Chapter 1. Cold shower

Sanka dreamed that he was climbing a tree. The tree was gnarled. He got to the middle and for some reason stopped. We should climb higher, but it doesn’t work. In addition, the sky began to frown and it began to rain. He woke up with this feeling. He went out into the corridor and his bare feet found themselves in a puddle. Sanka raised his head up in bewilderment. A cold drop fell on my face.

- Grandpa, get up! - the boy shouted.

- What's happened?

- We are flooded.

Your scream could give you a heart attack. And there will be no one to save you from the flood.

A sleepy mother came running at the noise.

- What's that noise? – she asked displeasedly.

- Apparently Sanka hid the bad luck he received, and the heavens brought down their wrath on us.

You’re always with your jokes, said mom, squeezing a wet rag into the basin.

Now I’ll get dressed, go upstairs and find out more accurately, said the grandfather.

It turned out that Leonid Stepanovich’s upstairs neighbor had a broken water pipe. The matter is certainly unpleasant, but fixable. Half an hour later, when they turned off the water and wiped away the puddles, the neighbor sat in the kitchen and persuaded his grandfather:

- Konstantin Ivanovich, help me out. I beg you very much!

Please understand, Lenya, I have completely different plans for today, the grandfather weakly fought back.

- Plans, plans. I also had plans for today, but everything went down the drain because of this rusty pipe.

- Call the school. Say you can't come to class. Let someone replace you.

- There’s no one to call there now. The director can find someone, but he is at a meeting in the department in the morning. There is no one else but him.

- And the head teacher. Ask the head teacher.

- She is ill. Yes, and she has a grudge against me. Help me out?

- I was going to the dacha. A spring day feeds the year.

- Your dacha is not going anywhere. Suppose I run to school, and then the plumbers come. This is how we will all be left without water. You, too, will be without water.

- I don’t really know.

You might even be without water for a week. And just replace me a little.

- How can I teach a lesson for you?

- And you won’t have to teach a lesson. Come and open a workshop. You'll drive the boys there. Let them sit in the workshop. I beg you very much.

- If you just get the guys into the workshop, then fine. I'll manage somehow. Only you are here quickly. As soon as the plumbers are finished, come straight to me.

- Great. Thank you. We are trying for the common cause. The main thing is that children do not wander around the school, otherwise they will destroy everything. And let them not touch anything in the workshop. Tell them something. Well, it’s not for me, Ivanovich, to teach you how to teach. You taught cadets, not schoolchildren. And this will be cooler.

- What is there? Give me the keys. I'll get out somehow.

Konstantin Ivanovich smiled, remembering the time when he taught in the naval school, waved his hand and went to shave. He was used to being in full dress in front of his students.

Chapter 2. Breaking to repair

The school greeted Konstantin Ivanovich with familiar smells. He walked past the dining room and went down the stairs. It smelled like pies. The workshops were located in the basement. The school was built before the war, and Konstantin Ivanovich’s father once studied there, then he himself, his children and grandchildren.

Several boys stood near the door of the workshop. They were discussing something with interest. One of them, a short, strong man, kept interrupting his comrades and waving his arms. Seeing Konstantin Ivanovich, the children became quiet.

Hello, eagles, Konstantin Ivanovich greeted cheerfully.

Hello, the eagles responded in a discordant chorus.

- Well, come into the workshop. Ask.

- And what kind of work will you do with us? – asked the strong man.

- Something like that. I'll watch you until Leonid Stepanovich comes.

-Are you a sailor?

- If you ask a lot of questions, you will soon grow old.

The guys went to the workshops and began to put on their robes. They looked quite funny in their dressing gowns. The robes were the same size, but children at that age are all different. A small, strong man in a floor-length robe looked