by Gopher 63 Replies latest social current
Well there are some things I feel isn't a teachers place to involve themselves with. At age 5/6 I feel it's up to the parents to let junior know if there's a Santa, tooth fairy, easter bunny. They'll find out soon enough.
Worry about teaching them to print clearly and to learn their colors.
This woman, if she wanted her kid to believe in Santa so bad, should home school her kids. It's not the teacher's business to perpetuate whatever myths the parents are feeding them at home. Her job is to teach logic, reason, and the use of the mind - and she did the right thing. They asked a fair question, and she gave a fair answer. She didn't ruin anything except the absurd notion that this child's parents told the truth. What made the kid sad? Finding out that Santa wasn't real? I bet the real torment came from finding out that his parents lied to him and made him feel stupid - and the parent feels guilty and is taking it out on the teacher.
Screw this parent.
Teach the truth, not the stupidity.
CZAR
Well it's easy to say home school your child if you don't approve of whatever the school or teacher dishes out. Here in California there is a huge tax burdon that support schools. Maybe people who want to be homeowners have to work two jobs to support the public schools already.
I don't think it was her place to say anything about it other than to talk to their parents.
Well it's easy to say home school your child if you don't approve of whatever the school or teacher dishes out. Here in California there is a huge tax burdon that support schools.
Ah, well you see, that's where vouchers come in...
(No, I'm not trying to hijack this thread... I'm really not... I swear... )
That teacher should not be teaching at the lower grades...what a boob. How about a good smack in the back of the head.
Even when I was a witness, I made my son swear to me that he would never say that santa claus was not real to other kids in his class. He did not have to lie, if he ever asked if he believed he just said since he did not celebrate christmas it did not matter.
Thats just wrong. It has nothing to do with education...let the kids believe the fairytales.
Oh well, so much for having children who have some imagination and innocuos mythology...I don't know about some of you but I see kids growing up super fast and to infuse the with what you refer to as "logic" IMO robs them of even more childhood wonder and fun. When they grow up and you try to get all nostalgic or goofy or any of that and they think you are a total dork you won't have anyone but yourself to blame. Let them be kids as long as they can, better than most of us got. Oh and since most of our holidays have become generic secular celebrations I don't think there is anything worng w/having celebrations of said holidays at school. This teacher might be more suited for older students who might appreciate those "logic" lessons with more immediacy than say the very young child who has to go home and ask their parents why there isn't a Santa Claus. Just my two garlands..
Sincerely,
District overbeer of the "Anti-Humbug" class
So if it is NOT a matter for the teacher to handle, than it should be school policy to not incorporate holidays into the school curriculum. Do you agree
No, I don't agree. How hard is it to say..."Talk to your Mommy and Daddy about this"
Simon:MY GOD MAN they are 5 and 6 year olds do you no think they can learn logic and resoning say in 2nd grade or hey even Middle School (GEESH)
Well, its never too soon to learn a valuable life lesson in reasoning and critical enquiry.
Having said that, perhaps she should have started with a topic that would have been a little less dissapointing for the kids, like Astrology, or BigFoot, or the moon "hoax", or homeopathy. Maybe one of those will be discussed next semester?
The dichotomy of the responses here is quite interesting. I respect the opposing views. Having grown up as a JW, I never had to face the issue of the truthfulness of the "Santa Claus" story.
I believe this teacher should have known the depth of feelings about Santa Claus in her mostly-Christian community. If she were on top of her game, she would have been alert to those feelings and simply left it up to the parents.
But I've never been in a teacher's shoes either. The challenges of teaching a large class must either keep you on your toes or get on your nerves, depending on the kind of day you are having. So I cannot totally blame her for a "gut reaction" to the is-Santa-real topic.
On the other hand the parents cannot totally abdicate the education of their children to the school system either. There has to be a healthy parent-teacher connection for this all to work. I sense such a connection here is not strong, seeing how quick the parents were to complain about this situation. Better parent-teacher communication might have headed this problem off, or at least minimized it.
Yes, eventually children must be exposed to the truths about the world they live in -- when they are ready. It's up to each parent to determine when that is.
