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Old 02-23-2010, 10:37 PM
 
3,644 posts, read 10,906,401 times
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I didn't give my teacher specifics back then either. But our assignment wasn't "busywork"... the point of it was to do research. Genealogy was just the chosen subject.

Some folks are fine with lying/cheating/taking the easy way out throughout their lives and teaching their kids to do the same. My mom was one of those. I chose to take a different path though - even at the age of 13.
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Old 02-24-2010, 03:18 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
10,194 posts, read 17,735,000 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceece View Post
We flat out made up whatever we didn't know. First off, it was 5th grade for us, not an assignment worthy of spending hours upon hours "researching" stuff for. Second off, I'm kind of private about my family and didn't really want everyone knowing specifics (my own mother didn't want me listing her actual name and info anywhere so we fudged on that too). Thirdly, it was just busywork anyway, any actual learning about the family or our heratige wasn't going to happen in a weeks's time but over the course of their lives.

There were several school projects like that and actually making up stuff was a pretty good lesson to teach the kids since they will likely be faced with stuff like this many times over the course of their lives and need to learn what's important and worth putting their effort into, and what isn't and what's nobodies business anyway.
If you had a problem with the assignment, you should have spoken to the teacher about it and made other arrangements. Why on earth you think it's more acceptable to lie than to work with your teacher and come up with an alternative is beyond me. Lying is NEVER a good lesson to teach kids.
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Old 02-24-2010, 04:41 PM
 
32,516 posts, read 36,995,479 times
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I've always wondered about the schools asking for this kind of info.

What if grandpa was a member of the Manson family? Seriously. Would you tell people?

Not everyone has a lovely story to tell.
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:01 PM
 
Location: California
37,042 posts, read 41,967,329 times
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Originally Posted by PA2UK View Post
If you had a problem with the assignment, you should have spoken to the teacher about it and made other arrangements. Why on earth you think it's more acceptable to lie than to work with your teacher and come up with an alternative is beyond me. Lying is NEVER a good lesson to teach kids.
Everyone lies. It's much easier to just make up what great-great-grandpa's hobbies were than make a fuss over a 5th grade assignment. Everyone knows this. Of course some people would probably have fit's over the fact that I also made up many things when the assignments were based on my personal experiences or feelings too. LOL. Sometimes you just have to give people what they want, that's an important life lesson too.
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Old 02-24-2010, 05:03 PM
 
Location: California
37,042 posts, read 41,967,329 times
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Originally Posted by DewDropInn View Post
I've always wondered about the schools asking for this kind of info.

What if grandpa was a member of the Manson family? Seriously. Would you tell people?

Not everyone has a lovely story to tell.
Exactly. Research doesn't have to involve any personal info so yes, I considered this 'busy work' on the part of our school. It was assigned because "it's always been assigned", no research skills were being taught in our case.
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Old 02-24-2010, 09:29 PM
 
5,652 posts, read 19,285,066 times
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Some people are real weird about find skeletons in their closet, so they refuse to discuss any family histories. Things that were scandalous then are most definitely NOT scandalous now. And I found plenty of skeletons in our closet...

You could ask her if she would be satisfied with the history of the surnames. (last names) As family research can be difficult and involved.
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Old 02-24-2010, 11:49 PM
 
13,499 posts, read 18,088,148 times
Reputation: 37885
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceece View Post
We flat out made up whatever we didn't know. First off, it was 5th grade for us, not an assignment worthy of spending hours upon hours "researching" stuff for. Second off, I'm kind of private about my family and didn't really want everyone knowing specifics (my own mother didn't want me listing her actual name and info anywhere so we fudged on that too). Thirdly, it was just busywork anyway, any actual learning about the family or our heratige wasn't going to happen in a weeks's time but over the course of their lives.

There were several school projects like that and actually making up stuff was a pretty good lesson to teach the kids since they will likely be faced with stuff like this many times over the course of their lives and need to learn what's important and worth putting their effort into, and what isn't and what's nobodies business anyway.
Sounds like a mixture of paranoia and dishonesty, a great start for grade schools children.
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Old 02-25-2010, 03:04 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
10,194 posts, read 17,735,000 times
Reputation: 13903
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceece View Post
Everyone lies. It's much easier to just make up what great-great-grandpa's hobbies were than make a fuss over a 5th grade assignment. Everyone knows this. Of course some people would probably have fit's over the fact that I also made up many things when the assignments were based on my personal experiences or feelings too. LOL. Sometimes you just have to give people what they want, that's an important life lesson too.
Wow, I'm really glad my parents had different morals than yours.
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Old 02-25-2010, 03:09 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
10,194 posts, read 17,735,000 times
Reputation: 13903
Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn View Post
I've always wondered about the schools asking for this kind of info.

What if grandpa was a member of the Manson family? Seriously. Would you tell people?

Not everyone has a lovely story to tell.
Once again, you/your parents could TALK to the teacher: "For personal reasons, I'm not comfortable with my child, let alone other kids in the class, knowing our family history. Is there anyway we can come up with an alternative assignment?" When did it become more acceptable to lie than to work with the teacher?
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Old 02-25-2010, 03:25 AM
 
13,499 posts, read 18,088,148 times
Reputation: 37885
Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn View Post
I've always wondered about the schools asking for this kind of info.

What if grandpa was a member of the Manson family? Seriously. Would you tell people?

Not everyone has a lovely story to tell.
Oh come, come: "Grandpa Manson was a successful butcher, and lived a quiet retirement." And then move on.
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