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I found out after talking to my friend who is our local middle school social studies teacher, she told me the fifth graders coming up don't know that there are seven continents let alone the names of those continents.
She told me the curriculum maker is making kids do these writing journals which somehow fulfill the standards for science and social studies. But if you are a kid who is not good at reading and writing you are out of luck.
How can a public school stop teaching science and social studies? How is this possible? Is this what our country has come to?
I found out after talking to my friend who is our local middle school social studies teacher, she told me the fifth graders coming up don't know that their are seven continents let alone the names of those continents.
She told me the curriculum maker is making kids do these writing journals which somehow fulfill the standards for science and social studies. But if you are a kid who is not good at reading and writing you are out of luck.
How can a public school stop teaching science and social studies? How is this possible? Is this what our country has come to?
Do they know the difference between their and there are?
I found out after talking to my friend who is our local middle school social studies teacher, she told me the fifth graders coming up don't know that there are seven continents let alone the names of those continents.
She told me the curriculum maker is making kids do these writing journals which somehow fulfill the standards for science and social studies. But if you are a kid who is not good at reading and writing you are out of luck.
How can a public school stop teaching science and social studies? How is this possible? Is this what our country has come to?
I'll bet this post is full of incorrect information.
I found out after talking to my friend who is our local middle school social studies teacher, she told me the fifth graders coming up don't know that there are seven continents let alone the names of those continents.
She told me the curriculum maker is making kids do these writing journals which somehow fulfill the standards for science and social studies. But if you are a kid who is not good at reading and writing you are out of luck.
How can a public school stop teaching science and social studies? How is this possible? Is this what our country has come to?
There aren't seven continents, There are only six.
Look at a map and put your brain in gear and come up with a reason for Europe to be regarded as a separate continent from Asia?
Isn't India separated from the rest of Asia by the Himalayas? Why isn't it a continent?
Stop trusting schools. Look at all of the great material that people running the schools do not have the brains to use.
Maybe if the teachers weren't forced to teach to the bottom of the class, they could start teaching little things like grammar, science, and social studies again. As it is now, it's tragic, but unfortunately not the highest priority.
I'm not in a geography class looking for a grade, I've pissed off "educated" coworkers in the past by suggesting that there are 6 continents. The last guy thought about it for a few minutes and then changed his mind and agreed with me.
There aren't seven continents, There are only six.
Look at a map and put your brain in gear and come up with a reason for Europe to be regarded as a separate continent from Asia?
1 North America
2 South America
3 Europe
4 Asia
5 Africa
6 Australia
7 Antarctica
Middle schoolers can't be reasonably be expected to debate whether there are 6 or 7 continents when the book says there are 7. Maybe in a high school AP class or college.
Likewise, debating whether Pluto is a planet or not is fun, but on the test, answer what the book says.
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Isn't India separated from the rest of Asia by the Himalayas? Why isn't it a continent?
India has long been referred to as "The Subcontinent". For extra credit, explain why.
Quote:
Stop trusting schools. Look at all of the great material that people running the schools do not have the brains to use.
psik
I don't think it's good advice for the general population of middle schoolers to distrust what they're being taught. Again, leave that for high school and later.
Nationally a lot of school systems are dropping everything in Elementary except Math and English. I'd leave you all to guess why but I'll tell you.
Science and Social Studies aren't tested subjects under R3T or NCLB before it. I have a couple friends in another state who work for that state's Department of Education and it's driving them nuts.
I might add that a fair number of you demanded this in one way or another and now you got it. Be careful what you wish for.
The listing of Europe and Asia as being two separate continents ahs always baffled me. I suppose there is a reason but it should be explained.
Back to the OP. My wife works in an elementary School and is horrified by the lack of a common curriculum between Teachers who are instructing the same grade level of students in the same building. Teachers who are not good at Science, or do not have an attachment to it, simply do not teach it. Same for Social Studies, Math, Spelling, etc.
Even worse is that some of the Teachers instruct using incorrect facts! They do not know how to convert fractions to decimals correctly, how to properly write decimals, how to properly punctuate sentences, how to use appropriate capitalization, etc.
The students leave these classrooms in worse shape than they arrived, as now they must unlearn incorrect information before they can learn the correct information.
another tangent. i think geologically speaking madagascar would be a continent since, iiuc, it is not connected to the african continental shelf the way cape verde is ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by compSciGuy
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I'm not in a geography class looking for a grade, I've pissed off "educated" coworkers in the past by suggesting that there are 6 continents. The last guy thought about it for a few minutes and then changed his mind and agreed with me.
panama canal is not a natural body of water so america should be 1 continent ?
Last edited by stanley-88888888; 02-14-2017 at 01:21 PM..
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