"Timmy, what was the impact of the Code of Hammurabi in Mesopotamian society?"
(deer in the headlights look) "Um...I like ice cream!"
I think we learned about that in fourth or fifth grade. Not opposed to that so long as they aren’t dropping George Washington and the Constitution to make time for it (which, I’m sure they are)
That has got to be the most stupid thing I have heard of since Shelia Jackson Lee was suggested for Secretary of Homeland Security.
Why would first graders need to know about anything in the middle east at that point of their lives. Knowledge of the judo-Christian history and influence should have already been conveyed to them in simple form in Sunday school. What the heck is wrong with teaching them about something closer to home and more important to them, like American history!? Sheesh.
It depends on how this is being presented. First grade is the time for memorization of facts so that the student has pegs upon which to hang future knowledge. In our home school, children as young as 4 memorize the timeline of history, focusing on the major events included above.
Nothing was taken from the Koran coloring book and used in the Bible or Torah, those books were written FIRST.
This is ridiculous, most of the kids still can barely write their names and a lot still wet the bed.
I do not beleive these are real questions.
There’s no way this stuff should be in 1st grade. First graders need to learn something about what is expected of them here and now, that is, the virtues. And connected with this, things such as honesty in political leaders, honesty in their selection, voting mechanisms, etc., mostly expressed through stories about the persons of important and inspiring figures such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
This is obviously directed at teachers and is an attempt to prepare Americans for the imposition of Islam, since even though the code of Hammurabi pre-dated Islam by many centuries and is actually rejected by Islamic law, the preponderance of references to the Middle East (with one modest mention of Judaism, which influenced our culture much more than did the Code of Hammurabi) and total neglect of Greece and Rome is clearly meant to blank out the West entirely.
When I was in school, we discussed the Egyptians and others around 4th or 5th grade, but in the context of what we already knew (which was the US and Greco-Roman culture, with the children individually knowing about Judeo-Christian culture through their religious instruction).
Fourth grade (in NYC) was devoted almost entirely to local state history, and I remember really liking it. We went on lots of field trips...
But the “Common Core” has nothing to do with reality and everything to do with indoctrination.
First graders will learn anything you’ll read to them or show them a video on. Egypt and Mesopotamia are cool. (In Sunday School, we call these subjects “Genesis” and “Exodus.”) I’d choose ancient history over environmentalist claptrap and “Anything’s a Family!” any day, if it was an either/or.
Last year I taught 6th grade social students (focus on ancient civilizations) and they are questions I would expect them to answer on exams.
BTW our text book was excellent (Glencoe) There were entire chapters on the rise of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
This looks like middle school material.
The Code of Hammurabi ... :Well, if the Ten Commandments are going to be taught, you may as well teach theirs source material.
Personally, I think reading, math, and science may be more helpful - but, hey, who am I to judge?
This is one part of the Code which I remember well (from my 1st grade “Contractor’s Liability” class)
“If a builder build a house for a man and do not make its construction firm, and the house which he has built collapse and cause the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall be put to death”
It was all I could do to learn to read in first grade.
funny how we all whine about how little kids learn in school, yet every time changes are proposed to rectify this, we whine all the louder. no wonder schools are all F-up.
My daughter is between 1st and 2nd grade and *is home-schooled* and can probably answer the MAJORITY of those questions.
2. Explain the importance of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the use of canals to support farming and the development of the city of Babylon
4. Identify cuneiform as the system of writing used in Mesopotamia
6. Explain the significance of the Code of Hammurabi
9. Explain the significance of gods/goddesses, ziggurats, temples, and priests in Mesopotamia;
12. Describe how a civilization evolves and changes over time
21. Identify Hatshepsut as a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and explain her significance as pharaoh
I think I was absent that day? :-)
My first graders memorized these names and facts, but we didn’t go into too much detail, because they won’t remember it all. But if they can truly memorize the facts, they *will* remember them.
We loved talking about Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Code of Hammurabi, Israel, all of it. All the major civilizations in a timeline.
I don’t think these will be presented in the proper way to grammar school students with the emphasis on memory work.
So, it sounds like torture. When do they play?
Those questions as presented are not much different from what we covered over six years of grade school. Starting first graders directly into some of these more complex concepts and facts seems to be a bit of a stretch. At the end of 6th or 8th grade I might expect most students to know the basics of all of these.