Posted on 10/11/2009 8:18:44 AM PDT by reaganaut1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Jeffrey Kolowith's kindergarten students read a poem about Christopher Columbus, take a journey to the New World on three paper ships and place the explorer's picture on a timeline through history.
Kolowith's students learn about the explorer's significance -- though they also come away with a more nuanced picture of Columbus than the noble discoverer often portrayed in pop culture and legend.
''I talk about the situation where he didn't even realize where he was,'' Kolowith said. ''And we talked about how he was very, very mean, very bossy.''
Columbus' stature in U.S. classrooms has declined somewhat through the years, and many districts will not observe his namesake holiday on Monday. Although lessons vary, many teachers are trying to present a more balanced perspective of what happened after Columbus reached the Caribbean and the suffering of indigenous populations.
''The whole terminology has changed,'' said James Kracht, executive associate dean for academic affairs in the Texas A&M College of Education and Human Development. ''You don't hear people using the world 'discovery' anymore like they used to. 'Columbus discovers America.' Because how could he discover America if there were already people living here?''
In Texas, students start learning in the fifth grade about the ''Columbian Exchange'' -- which consisted not only of gold, crops and goods shipped back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, but diseases carried by settlers that decimated native populations.
In McDonald, Pa., 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, fourth-grade students at Fort Cherry Elementary put Columbus on trial this year -- charging him with misrepresenting the Spanish crown and thievery. They found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison.
''In their own verbiage, he was a bad guy,'' teacher Laurie Crawford said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Too bad Columbus didn't bring his GPS, or did he but it was Made In China so it probably broke. Has anyone checked the crews' emails to see how mean and bossy 'lumbus was?
Good point. de Soto wasn’t known for his pleasant demeanor.
How about Reunification Day? The lands of the western hemisphere were reunified with the lands of the eastern hemisphere.
I’m betting that nowhere in these lessons is anything about how the Aztecs who were living in the Americas when Columbus and the evil Europeans landed probably got where they were by conquering and slaughtering who ever happened to be living there before the Aztecs came.
You forgot the BARF alert.
Happy Columbus Day.
“OK, fine. So I’ll toss it to you, what percentage of male kindergarten teachers do you think are homos?”
There’s got to be one that’s not, if you look hard enough.
American kids are being trained by communist cadres and Useful Idiots to despise their nation, which results in a-holes like Obama getting elected.
This article is a case in point.
The crews of his ships were not easy to control...and he had the drawback of being a foreigner. I ran across a quote once (maybe from Bartolome de Las Casas) to the effect that the Archangel Gabriel would have had a hard time keeping Columbus’ men under control.
Exactly. Would the world be better off if the US had remained in the 15th century (like most of the Middle East)? God had a plan for this nation, we’ve been a blessing to nations and cultures, despite what the revisionists say.
Exactly. Plus, the added benefit of ridding the continent of cannibalism..........
““By the way, what kind of so-called “man” would **want** to teach kindergarten?”
That would be a faggot. With NAMBLA membership.”
Grow up. That was unnecessary. What a goodly number of kindergartners need to see is a good, strong MAN in the classroom. Might help make up for the crap they have at home.
Your remarks are indicative of why many men don’t teach the lower grades. The assumption that they’re perverts.
Oh, that’s b.s. Real men are not welcome in our schools, and that’s why they show up in such low numbers. Also, the real men who do choose to join that profession end up leaving because they get sick of the crap they have to teach and promote. The educational system nationwide is run by liberal females and faggots. So YOU grow up.
Also, as far as the “crap” these kids have at home, maybe more men should grow some balls and start calling the shots and setting the tone at home, instead of being brow-beaten into accepting the mindless emotional approach to child-raising that America’s females have pushed on the society.
Oh, what a pity. He got-er-done, that's the point.
it did...syphilis came back the Europeans. Couple others too, but nothing as bad as what happened to the natives. Of course, I’ve heard the current native pop matches that of the pre-Columbian era so there weren’t millions and millions to begin with.
“Also, the real men who do choose to join that profession end up leaving because they get sick of the crap they have to teach and promote. The educational system nationwide is run by liberal females and faggots.”
I don’t know any real men that have left the teaching profession. They stay and they put up with the crap and that includes the crap you try and tar them with.
So, I am grown up. You obviously aren’t.
Getting that white self-hatred down early.
my nine year old gave them hell over the teacher’s emphasis that Columbus took slaves yada yada
no kidding..we sure get plenty of third world diseases now here
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.