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I guess Geography, along with Phonics, have hit the cutting room floor.
What exactly is being taught in public schools these days?
Embarrassing.
Geography as a stand alone class has been gone for almost three decades. The History classes are supposed to incorporate it and most curricula have it in the units.
Phonics goes in and out of fashion, sometimes every couple years. The problem with phonics is that often reading for meaning goes by the wayside in the pursuit of letter sounds.
That's coupled with the fact that many kids now aren't reading at home, or rather their parents aren't reading to them if they're younger. I taught in what's recognized as a "wealthy" county (that designation has a bunch of asterisks) in an above average income school and we literally had hundreds of kids whose houses didn't have one book, magazine or newspaper in it. Nor did many have computers that the kids were allowed to use.
That's in a school where the parents are educated and upper middle class. Imagine a school where the parents themselves are illiterate.
I guess Geography, along with Phonics, have hit the cutting room floor.
What exactly is being taught in public schools these days?
Embarrassing.
You have to guess ? when the kids don't know which bathroom to use, or which gender sports team to join. I went to school in the 70-80s and put up with the im ok your ok BS, in high school we did not have geography, history class was a joke, I knew more about history that the teacher did. When kids coming out of high school know nothing about how the govt is run, and any US history, there is something wrong.
You and I are of the age, and geographic area, where a significant percentage of kids didn't graduate. Maybe 8th Grade wasn't their Senior year but 10th or 11th were.
My class started out at about 250 (in one of the, at that time, better thought of high schools in the area) and we graduated just over 180 (those numbers come from being bored at the last reunion and doing a yearbook/commencement program count). Now, some of those 70+/- kids moved away but the majority, the vast majority, dropped out. Some girls because they got pregnant, some of both sex because they got sick....of school.
Christ, we had a couple kids who dropped out in May of their Senior year.
I don't know how many of my class did not graduate. Pennsylvania has had an upper age for compulsory school attendance of 17 since 1949.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOldPuss
I guess Geography, along with Phonics, have hit the cutting room floor.
What exactly is being taught in public schools these days?
Embarrassing.
I've found that many kids can graduate from HS with little knowledge of history, geography, or civics. It is easier for these teachers not to challenge students or expect them to actually read a textbook. I've encountered social studies teachers who don't give tests so why bother trying to remember anything. Many of these teachers simply grade on completion of homework, turn something in and you get full credit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by North Beach Person
Geography as a stand alone class has been gone for almost three decades. The History classes are supposed to incorporate it and most curricula have it in the units.
Phonics goes in and out of fashion, sometimes every couple years. The problem with phonics is that often reading for meaning goes by the wayside in the pursuit of letter sounds.
That's coupled with the fact that many kids now aren't reading at home, or rather their parents aren't reading to them if they're younger. I taught in what's recognized as a "wealthy" county (that designation has a bunch of asterisks) in an above average income school and we literally had hundreds of kids whose houses didn't have one book, magazine or newspaper in it. Nor did many have computers that the kids were allowed to use.
That's in a school where the parents are educated and upper middle class. Imagine a school where the parents themselves are illiterate.
A few school districts in PA still teach geography. I'm aware of one where geography is the required social studies class in 8th grade. My local school district used to teach geography about 8-10 years ago in addition to the required middle school history and civics.
My grandsons have a bunch of puzzles of the USA and the world (table top jigsaw, magnet, and floor sized). The four-year-old can already identify all the countries of the world. Ask him where any of the United States is, he can tell you. He can name ALL of them (there's a song I used to teach him). Ditto the countries of South America, Africa, etc. And he just turned four.
And the seven-year-old can tell you who the Speaker of the House is, the governor of his state is, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and who the first ten Presidents of the United States are? Hint, he isn't learning it in SCHOOL.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 12-12-2020 at 08:56 AM..
Geography as a stand alone class has been gone for almost three decades. The History classes are supposed to incorporate it and most curricula have it in the units.
Phonics goes in and out of fashion, sometimes every couple years. The problem with phonics is that often reading for meaning goes by the wayside in the pursuit of letter sounds.
That's coupled with the fact that many kids now aren't reading at home, or rather their parents aren't reading to them if they're younger. I taught in what's recognized as a "wealthy" county (that designation has a bunch of asterisks) in an above average income school and we literally had hundreds of kids whose houses didn't have one book, magazine or newspaper in it. Nor did many have computers that the kids were allowed to use.
That's in a school where the parents are educated and upper middle class. Imagine a school where the parents themselves are illiterate.
Good post.
I would say that geography has been out of the classroom for even longer than 3 decades. And before that what was supposedly geography was boring labeling of maps, for the most part.
Some people think that phonics is THE answer to reading skills. It works for many, not so well for others. It is A tool, not THE tool.
I would say that geography has been out of the classroom for even longer than 3 decades. And before that what was supposedly geography was boring labeling of maps, for the most part.
Some people think that phonics is THE answer to reading skills. It works for many, not so well for others. It is A tool, not THE tool.
My schooling of geography was more than that (60's) and I realize now that that type of education (rote) does stay with you for the rest of your life.
It wasn't until high school that I could remember the states.
In Junior High Chorus, we had to learn a song about the fifty states. I could recite the song in my sleep. I remembered it so well, I used to sing it to my kids, later grandsons, and it's still in my head. Everybody on a car trip with me learned the fifty states song, because I always ended up singing it at one point or another. I didn't give them a choice! And on tests later, they knew it.
It's weird. Quite some people never took geography in high school, or physics, or chemistry...
Is it unique in the US? I think they are compulsory in most countries.
Geography is pretty much gone in the US. Math is largely elective. Out of 990 graduates in my HS in LA I was one of 17 taking Trigonometry and Calculus. And that was fifty years ago. All math but basic is elective. TODAY Chemistry is four/five times harder and like math, you can't "catch up later" when you find it's required. (My son got caught in that in combined sciences; he got INTO the University program, but found out he didn't have the "base" needed. You need the base. After all, how can you CONTINUE to bomb the crap out of countries when you don't even know where they are????
Last edited by thedwightguy; 12-12-2020 at 12:40 PM..
Reason: finish sentence
Geography is pretty much gone in the US. Math is largely elective. Out of 990 graduates in my HS in LA I was one of 17 taking Trigonometry and Calculus. And that was fifty years ago. All math but basic is elective. TODAY Chemistry is four/five times harder and like math, you can't "catch up later" when you find it's required. (My son got caught in that in combined sciences; he got INTO the University program, but found out he didn't have the "base" needed. You need the base. After all, how can you CONTINUE to bomb the crap out of countries when you don't even know where they are????
We've got smart bombs now, don't you know.
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Geography fades..............by grade 7
