Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As a parent, you should know what your child is being taught. That is the right of EVERY parent. Parents know when to introduce certain subjects to their children. And that is the parent's right.
And you can totally do that if you simply ask the teacher for lesson plans and/or a calendar! You can also ask your kids what they did at school. You could even proactively address this with your teacher at the beginning of the year: "Mrs Jones, my family prefers to discuss the gays with our children first, before y'all can brainwash 'em, so if you could please give me a heads up before y'all read any homosexual books, I'd be much obliged! Thank you, ma'am!"
Just because you didn't reach out to the school, doesn't mean you don't have access to that information. You expect them to contact you about every book they read??
I grew up in a non-traditional family. My sibling and I were raised by my mother and grandmother because my deadbeat father had abandoned us. I am in my mid-50s now, but I clearly recall the shame I felt that I didn't have a father or a family that fit in. I grew up in a predominantly Catholic upper-middle class community, where it seemed every other kid in town had a mother who was a housewife, a father who worked, and a LOT of siblings. We didn't fit in for other reasons, too (we were poor, not Catholic, had a small family), but mostly because we had no father, and my mother and grandmother had to work in a factory to support us (they worked different shifts so we were not left alone all the time).
And there in my public grammar school, since Kindergarten -- okay, that was 1965 -- we were introduced to Sally, Dick, and Jane, and their Mommy and Daddy. And each year for Father's Day, the class had to make some stupid gift for our daddies. Up until about fifth grade, I pretended to have one. The kids I grew up with were mean enough to me because we were poor, so I couldn't look at anyone and tell them I had no father! They would be aghast and ask me why -- and I didn't know/understand why. Everyone was inculcated in the idea that having a Mommy and Daddy was normal and right, and anything else was weird and wrong. And so I gave my stupid plaster-filled seashells and macaroni-decorated objects to my uncle instead. But I felt so inferior for not having a father, so odd, so left out. Then, my best friend, who lived next door and attended the Catholic school, told me her parents were getting divorced but had to keep it a secret because Catholics weren't allowed to get divorced and she might get kicked out of school if they found out. She was terrified.
It was all so confusing and so shame-inducing to be different. It took a few years of therapy as an adult to unpack and get past the unconscious belief I'd had that not having a father was a defect and my fault.
No, school was never just about math and reading. We were also taught about grooming and hygiene, penmanship, how to be diplomatic (I still remember a lesson from 3rd grade that went something like: "If your friend says their favorite color is blue, it's not polite to say, 'Eww, I hate blue!' To be polite, you say, "That's a nice color, but my favorite is yellow."), and other things that people need in order to function and get along with the world. However, the nuclear family was put on a pedestal. I wish that, when I was little, there had been books that showed different kinds of families, so that I never had to hide or feel like there was something wrong with me.
So tell her yes, and move on. God, some straight people will make a big deal about anything. Trust me, your daughter ain't gonna make as big a deal about it as you are.
so last week at dinner my daughter (who is in kindergarten) asked me if she can marry another girl and then she asked if men can marry other men. me and my wife were caught off guard and we tried to figure out why she was asking about that. apparently, her kindergarten teacher read this book "Families, Families, Families" and in that book there is various examples of families. they included several non-traditional families including two moms, two dads and an unmarried couple. i took pictures to post but then realized there is a copyright issue.
now, i feel obligated to explain that I support equality for everyone and believe I am teaching my daughter to not discriminate against people who are different. i dont have an issue with the message. the issue that i have is that the school (i am not sure yet if this is the schools thing or individual teachers; i know the book is available in the library) has decided that they will introduce topics that they know not every parent wants them to introduce to children before most parents have discussed them. i dont think that is at all accidental. the way i figure it, they want to be the ones to teach kids before either prejudiced parents teach their kids wrong or even non-prejudiced parents teach their kids that it is even an issue. i imagine they dont even want it to be seen as an issue worthy of treating in a special way. well, maybe that is how it will be eventually but they know that isnt what parents want today. i want to answer those questions and explain things to my daughter. they intentionally beat us to the punch. my wife is puerto rican and raised catholic, she also believes in equality but is more upset than i am about someone else talking to our child about it. why is it necessary for them to do this in kindergarten?
i am not sure how many people are bothered by this. not the message but the school asserting itself where i (and i think most parents) do not think it belongs.
The girls bother me very much, they had no ideas about the involuntary sex.
In facts: the real guys don't talk about sex; the brainwashed ones don't count though.
so last week at dinner my daughter (who is in kindergarten) asked me if she can marry another girl and then she asked if men can marry other men. me and my wife were caught off guard and we tried to figure out why she was asking about that. apparently, her kindergarten teacher read this book "Families, Families, Families" and in that book there is various examples of families. they included several non-traditional families including two moms, two dads and an unmarried couple. i took pictures to post but then realized there is a copyright issue.
now, i feel obligated to explain that I support equality for everyone and believe I am teaching my daughter to not discriminate against people who are different. i dont have an issue with the message. the issue that i have is that the school (i am not sure yet if this is the schools thing or individual teachers; i know the book is available in the library) has decided that they will introduce topics that they know not every parent wants them to introduce to children before most parents have discussed them. i dont think that is at all accidental. the way i figure it, they want to be the ones to teach kids before either prejudiced parents teach their kids wrong or even non-prejudiced parents teach their kids that it is even an issue. i imagine they dont even want it to be seen as an issue worthy of treating in a special way. well, maybe that is how it will be eventually but they know that isnt what parents want today. i want to answer those questions and explain things to my daughter. they intentionally beat us to the punch. my wife is puerto rican and raised catholic, she also believes in equality but is more upset than i am about someone else talking to our child about it. why is it necessary for them to do this in kindergarten?
i am not sure how many people are bothered by this. not the message but the school asserting itself where i (and i think most parents) do not think it belongs.
My wife is a kindergarten teacher in a public elementary school.
One of the things they do in class is talk about their families. And while the majority of the children come from homes with their biological mother and their biological father, not all of them do. Some come from one-parent households. And some come from two-parents-of-the-same-gender households.
Frankly, it's going to be pretty odd these days if a child reaches the age of six and doesn't know that there are such households, even without specifically being taught that it is. This is not something they only find out because a teacher tells them. Indeed, it's something they're going to discover unless there's an active attempt to prevent them from finding it out.
And any parent who wants to hide that fact from their children? Well, that's their issue. It's not the responsibility of a teacher or of society at large to help conceal their children from it.
Last edited by Unsettomati; 06-11-2016 at 07:42 AM..
My wife is a kindergarten teacher in a public elementary school.
One of the things they do in class is talk about their families. And while the majority of the children come from homes with their biological mother and their biological father, not all of them do. Some come from one-parent households. And some come from two-parents-of-the-same-gender households.
Frankly, it's going to be pretty odd these days if a child reaches the age of six and doesn't know that there are such households, even without specifically being taught that it is. This is not something they only find out because a teacher tells them. Indeed, it's something they're going to discover unless there's an active attempt to prevent them from finding it out.
And any parent who wants to hide that fact from their children? Well, that's their issue. It's not the responsibility of a teacher or of society at large to help conceal their children from it.
Wanting to discuss subjects to your own child on a different timetable and in a different manner than the school does is not "hiding" things from children. If your child was developmentally disabled and YOU as a parent felt that he needed more tutoring in math, would you allow the school to put him in an advanced math class because the school felt it was a better fit? OR would you step in and do what was right for YOUR CHILD?
Frankly, it is amazing the number of people who believe that the school is always right and the parents are always wrong. When did parents become complete idiots who don't know their own children??
If those feel that strongly about the school having 100% control over what ideas children are exposed to and at what age they are exposed to them, why bother having parents at all? Just hand the babies directly over to the schools at birth. Since the schools always know best.
Frankly it's amazing you would try and draw a parallel between putting a developmentally disabled person in advanced math with understanding that when you put 20-30 diverse kids into a room they are going to learn about each other.
"Could you please ask Billy to not talk about his moms or have them pick him up together from school - I'm not able to communicate such concepts to my kids"
This isn't educational approach, it's life experience and creating a comfortable environment for all your students.
same sex marriage is the law of the land...... the nuclear family is but one configuration.......
for those of you who want to pretend otherwise, how do you think your children will respond when they find out otherwise, just by living life.... is your hope that they will remain as closed minded as you are?
Finger Laker you are missing the point. NO ONE is suggesting that little Billy not discuss his moms, or be segregated from the class or kicked out of school.
The point is: Should Billy's moms be the main focus of a lesson that is taught to all the kids in the class? Why is that needed? If David's mom is 10 years older than David's dad, should that be the main focus of a lesson? If Sally's dad is from the Middle East and her mom is from Ireland, should that be the focus of the lesson? If Kiera's mom is Jewish because she converted and now lives with uncle who is Catholic, but her aunt is Muslim and has two kids from a former marriage, should THAT be the focus of the lesson?
People are different and have different backgrounds. SO WHAT? Why is that the sole focus of the classroom for only certain populations? I'd rather kids be taught to respect ALL (no hitting, no name calling) and MOVE ON TO ACTUAL LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING. You know, what schools are supposed to be doing and failing miserably at because they are spending so much time on issues, not academics.
And you failed -- telling me to grow up? Well, that's not respectful, tolerant or mature. Perhaps if your teachers taught you respect instead of reading books that have zero academic value, you wouldn't feel the need to name call or insult me. You might be better able to stick to the issue at hand and focus on THAT.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You expect them to contact you about every book they read??
