Comments on: Fifth-grade smarts http://www.joannejacobs.com/2007/01/fifth-grade-smarts/ Free-linking and thinking on education by Joanne Jacobs Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:16:42 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Richard Aubrey http://www.joannejacobs.com/2007/01/fifth-grade-smarts/comment-page-1/#comment-38721 Richard Aubrey Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:43:52 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2007/01/29/fifth-grade-smarts/#comment-38721 markm. Your point would have more point if they knew anything at all, regardless of the area or culture. When I was in school, roughly the same structure--same building--from grade 7 to grade 11, we had state history one year, American history the next year, world history the next (Anybody remember "Story of Nations"?), and returned to American history and world history in grades ten and eleven. Grade twelve allowed for some focus in history, but everybody got the same for five years. It is said that there are US history books which give far more space to Marilyn Monroe than to George Washington. markm.

Your point would have more point if they knew anything at all, regardless of the area or culture.
When I was in school, roughly the same structure–same building–from grade 7 to grade 11, we had state history one year, American history the next year, world history the next (Anybody remember “Story of Nations”?), and returned to American history and world history in grades ten and eleven.
Grade twelve allowed for some focus in history, but everybody got the same for five years.

It is said that there are US history books which give far more space to Marilyn Monroe than to George Washington.

]]> By: markm http://www.joannejacobs.com/2007/01/fifth-grade-smarts/comment-page-1/#comment-38706 markm Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:06:31 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2007/01/29/fifth-grade-smarts/#comment-38706 Richard: When I was a kid (40-some years ago), the history they taught in school was mainly English and American history, starting in 1066 at the earliest (or with Magna Carta, Columbus, or the Mayflower), and most years they ran out of time before reaching WWII. That's not much compared to the rest of the world or the first 4,000 years of recorded history, which political correctness requires trying to teach nowadays before they cover our <i>own</i> heritage. Richard: When I was a kid (40-some years ago), the history they taught in school was mainly English and American history, starting in 1066 at the earliest (or with Magna Carta, Columbus, or the Mayflower), and most years they ran out of time before reaching WWII. That’s not much compared to the rest of the world or the first 4,000 years of recorded history, which political correctness requires trying to teach nowadays before they cover our own heritage.

]]> By: Richard Aubrey http://www.joannejacobs.com/2007/01/fifth-grade-smarts/comment-page-1/#comment-38678 Richard Aubrey Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:55:36 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2007/01/29/fifth-grade-smarts/#comment-38678 I challenged somebody who claimed to be a teacher about the abysmal level of historical literacy. She said there is so much more than when we were kids (I figure history goes back 5000 years and since I was a kid is just under one percent of that time) that there isn't room for all the stuff we used to know. Crap. Either they think citizens who don't know history are easier to manipulate, or they're too lazy to teach it. But having more history on account of time going by is not a reason. I challenged somebody who claimed to be a teacher about the abysmal level of historical literacy.
She said there is so much more than when we were kids (I figure history goes back 5000 years and since I was a kid is just under one percent of that time) that there isn’t room for all the stuff we used to know.
Crap.

Either they think citizens who don’t know history are easier to manipulate, or they’re too lazy to teach it. But having more history on account of time going by is not a reason.

]]> By: Matt Johnston http://www.joannejacobs.com/2007/01/fifth-grade-smarts/comment-page-1/#comment-38666 Matt Johnston Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:57:58 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2007/01/29/fifth-grade-smarts/#comment-38666 I like this idea. While there have been many advances in knowledge, parents have the advantage of years of experience and knowledge gathering that a fifth grader does not have. What may be more interesting is asking current college students the same questions. I like this idea. While there have been many advances in knowledge, parents have the advantage of years of experience and knowledge gathering that a fifth grader does not have.

What may be more interesting is asking current college students the same questions.

]]> By: david foster http://www.joannejacobs.com/2007/01/fifth-grade-smarts/comment-page-1/#comment-38664 david foster Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:42:10 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/2007/01/29/fifth-grade-smarts/#comment-38664 "The amount of information and discoveries made in the past fifty years has been astronomical when compared with what our parents grew up with, and even with current fifth graders, more and more is being introduced by the second..." I think this line of thinking is pretty silly. See my post about <a href="http://photoncourier.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_photoncourier_archive.html#116430513859251608" rel="nofollow">Temporal Bigotry</a>. “The amount of information and discoveries made in the past fifty years has been astronomical when compared with what our parents grew up with, and even with current fifth graders, more and more is being introduced by the second…”

I think this line of thinking is pretty silly. See my post about Temporal Bigotry.

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