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My daughter taught music at a school where they did not teach history or social studies and one other primary subject (science I think). They had to focus on the things their kids needed to pass on the standardized tests to keep the school out of trouble.
She taught the kids the star spangled banner and went into the background, explaining it was written during the war of 1812 "What is that?" Well it was the war with England immediately following the American revolution "What is the American revolution? Why were they fighting against England? What is England? "
In my school, we only taught what was on a test. That was thanks to No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. They required reporting only of reading and math, so we were told to spend all our time on that. The presidents who made those awful policies are gone, but the policies are still in effect in most of the schools and will be until something worse comes along.
You would want to attend a school board meeting and bring it up. Most school districts have them monthly. I would also question the schools superintendent about the curriculum.
I'd start with the classroom teacher of the child of the friend. This sounds like many of these "friend's kid's" stories. There may not be more than a grain of truth. The same with coldjensen's story. I suggest he check again with his daughter. There may be some sort of misunderstanding or miscommunication.
As for the rest of this thread, this is not supposed to be a thread debating whether there are six or 7 continents. This issue of Europe and Asia has been discussed/debated for decades. There are some people on here trying to be very clever.
So how does "Science" analyze whether or not an airliner weighing less than 200 tons could totally destroy a skyscraper more than 400,000 tons without accurate data on the distributions of steel and concrete down the 1360 foot building?
Since 9/11 physics has been history.
Shouldn't scientists notice planned obsolescence in cars in 50 years? Do the Laws of Physics change style every year?
Where does science really fit in managing a high technology society? We didn't have computers everywhere when I was in grade school, so what do we do with them? Spread more unimportant and inaccurate information faster?
The standards (which all public schools must follow) include plenty of history, geography, social studies and science.
It sounds to me that the school in question is trying a new INSTRUCTIONAL method (i.e., usig journals to stress writing skills) but I doubt that means they are just totally ignoring the curriculum subjects mandated by the state.
So how does "Science" analyze whether or not an airliner weighing less than 200 tons could totally destroy a skyscraper more than 400,000 tons without accurate data on the distributions of steel and concrete down the 1360 foot building?
Since 9/11 physics has been history.
Shouldn't scientists notice planned obsolescence in cars in 50 years? Do the Laws of Physics change style every year?
Where does science really fit in managing a high technology society? We didn't have computers everywhere when I was in grade school, so what do we do with them? Spread more unimportant and inaccurate information faster?
psik
Every person doesn't have to be an expert on every topic.
If I'm the director of an orchestra, I don't need to be able to figure out the science of what happens when airliners contact skyscrapers. I can rely on experts in physics to do that for me.
If I am a scientist in the world of physics, I don't need to understand how a modern orchestra works. I can reply of experts in the field of music to do that for me.
If I am a science teacher or a principal, I don't have to know everything about shingling my house. I can hire that done.
A basic knowledge in the 4 major content area (math, science, social studies, and English) i sufficient for the average person. And then -- whether white collar or blue collar -- they have some area in which they specialize.
For me personally -- and for others their perspective may be different -- the 4 content areas in order of importance are: English (because we all need to communicate), social studies (we all can be votes and need to understand our nation and our world), and then math or science (fairly equal in importance). All students need a well-rounded education in all four, and then they can specialize in fields that interest them the most.
The standards (which all public schools must follow) include plenty of history, geography, social studies and science.
It sounds to me that the school in question is trying a new INSTRUCTIONAL method (i.e., usig journals to stress writing skills) but I doubt that means they are just totally ignoring the curriculum subjects mandated by the state.
I think that's probably true. I recall that our English teachers on a team were encouraged to include historical and scientific topics within English classes and assignments, where it was feasible. For example, if students in English were studying the American Revolution is their history class, they might be assigned an essay on a topic related to the American Revolution. Or if in science they were studying the heart and lungs, their English teacher might have them doing a research paper on some aspect of the heart and lungs. In other words, as teachers, work to support each others' curriculum.
Einstein's Miracle Year was 1905. What percentage of high school students need more math than that? Personally I think a lot of copyrighting of textbooks is nothing but making money off students that are forced to buy them and really has nothing to do with EDUCATION.
I figure that is why a lot of people do not talk about Project Gutenberg. Education and the Education BUSINESS are two different things.
But yeah, the books on surgery from 1880 are pretty useless. LOL That is why I said 5%
I do find the shortage of math and science books from the 50s and 60s rather peculiar.
psik
Science books in bio, chemistry, earth science, really anything except general physics are going to be wildly out of date within 15 years. Especially in biology. So why would you want science books that are 60+ years old?
I thought the same thing. I think science is the most important thing a kid can learn.
I am a researcher and I teach science and I wouldn't even say that. Reading and math are easily the most important thing anyone can learn.
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