too much work

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Home : 2001 : July : 10

too much work
By Carol

I have been saying this for ages. I have been working on a History curriculum for my fifth graders. I decided to line up all the books I could get my hands on to make my curriculum, while still fitting into state standards.
I looked at a book that is about 15 years ago and the amount of information given is about a quarter of what is expected today. Something is wrong here. I realized as I read some of the text that there was information that I was missing. I guess I would like to know why they have to know the names and details about over 20 Native American Tribes. Why wouldn't the role of the

Native Americans and their contributions to who we are today not get the point across. I hope that this is not offensive to Native Americans who value their tribes but for fifth graders who are supposed to learn US, Latin America and Canada in one year, from Native Americans to Pres. Bush and compare the three, this is much too much. Of course, this includes, geography, current events, reports, research, etc. That is one subject.

The Math is also levels ahead. Jr. High children are learning third year HS material and my American History curriculum covers more than the Jr. High did, not that many years ago.

Children are not being treated as children, IMHO. It is not fair to them and it is not fair to us.

Sorry for the gripes.