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Hi teachers, I am back for another discussion. I currently teach Pre-Kindergarten and my focus theme is Thanksgiving. I am an individual that tries to educate children accurately to the best of my ability. However, each year during Thanksgiving, I find it hard to teach young students the watered down version of the Pilgrims and Indians. I find myself feeling bad about it because the watered down version is not accurate. I know that my students are too young to understand the history of America in that aspect, but I also do not want to teach a history that isn't true. I learned about the true history of the Indians and Pilgrims when I was in the 3rd grade. I started to understand the full concept when I was in college. I started being disgusted with the way I was taught when I was younger, and also was upset with the animated Disney film Pocahontas(I think I spelled that right)
I enjoy teaching, but I also want to be able to teach the truth. Pre-kindergartens really do not need history lessons as much as older children, however it is a standard that they must have a curriculum that focus on culture.
This week will be tough. Not to mention I had to have a watered down discussion with my young students about the recent elections last week. One of my students cried because he was told that the future president-elect was a bully and that bullies are mean. He then asked will the bully hurt us?
What specifically is being taught in your school that is inaccurate?
Pocahontas was in Virginia, so I'm a bit confused about how that relates to Thanksgiving.
I teach 3rd and 4h graders and not one has brought up the recent election. Don't get too in depth on that.
I was relating pochantas with my idea of the indians and the pilgrims. It was a cartoon back in the 90s. Lets be real. We all know that the pilgrims and the indians weren't "Kumbya"
There are some picture books on Thanksgiving created for prek and kindergarten. I would read those first and then discuss the book. I used to emphasize the concept of giving Thanks and what we should be grateful for, rather than the history. Of course, in my last district, we were forbidden to even mention the Holiday of Thanksgiving at all. When there was a day off from school, we had to just call it a school holiday. We were forbidden to mention even the names of Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, President's Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and every single Federal holiday in existence, much to my chagrin. I did mention Martin Luther King's Day and read a story book about Martin Luther King. I wanted to see if I would be reprimanded for that one. I used MLK day to talk about being fair and equality.
There are some picture books on Thanksgiving created for prek and kindergarten. I would read those first and then discuss the book. I used to emphasize the concept of giving Thanks and what we should be grateful for, rather than the history. Of course, in my last district, we were forbidden to even mention the Holiday of Thanksgiving at all. When there was a day off from school, we had to just call it a school holiday. We were forbidden to mention even the names of Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, President's Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and every single Federal holiday in existence, much to my chagrin. I did mention Martin Luther King's Day and read a story book about Martin Luther King. I wanted to see if I would be reprimanded for that one. I used MLK day to talk about being fair and equality.
Yes, I am currently in the process of finding books to read on that subject. I hope I can explain in the best way possible.
I was relating pochantas with my idea of the indians and the pilgrims. It was a cartoon back in the 90s. Lets be real. We all know that the pilgrims and the indians weren't "Kumbya"
No, but they weren't exactly enemies at the time either:
There are some picture books on Thanksgiving created for prek and kindergarten. I would read those first and then discuss the book. I used to emphasize the concept of giving Thanks and what we should be grateful for, rather than the history. Of course, in my last district, we were forbidden to even mention the Holiday of Thanksgiving at all. When there was a day off from school, we had to just call it a school holiday. We were forbidden to mention even the names of Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, President's Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and every single Federal holiday in existence, much to my chagrin. I did mention Martin Luther King's Day and read a story book about Martin Luther King. I wanted to see if I would be reprimanded for that one. I used MLK day to talk about being fair and equality.
I guess my question is, what does your school expect the students to know about Thanksgiving?
The reasoning behind the policy was not to "offend" and to be PC. Schools in this district could not say the pledge of allegiance or sing any type of national/patriotic song. I didn't agree with it, but had no choice.
It's high time we stopped referring to the native people as "Indians"
That's step 1
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