I am a teacher's assistant in two second grade classrooms. During February, both President's Day and George Washington's birthday occur. We will be learning about some of our former presidents and some things that each of them accomplished. This past week I was talking with a group of students about our president and they all, as expected, could tell me that Barack Obama was our current president. However, I did not have to even go as far back as Bill Clinton before I got some confused looks. The children had never even heard of George W. Bush. Considering that most of these children were born in 2007/2008, it is understandable that they do not remember having a president other than Barack Obama. However, I find it very shocking that they have never been told about any president before Obama. Political awareness is very important because it helps us understand why certain policies are in place and how/why they came to be (5.H.2.2). I understand that those concepts may still be hard for a child that age to understand but, introducing them to these presidents at an early age just to familiarize them with the presidents is the first step in the child eventually developing a concrete knowledge of politics. The attached article describes how it is not just our children who do not have a grasp on politics and our economy. This is appropriate because it shows us that we have to start at an early age to get our children interested in politics and government because they will carry this interest and knowledge into adulthood.
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/civics
David,
ReplyDeleteYes, we need to make sure kids are being prepared to be effective and knowledgeable citizens. How can you use current events in your future classroom? How will you intentionally connect your classroom so students see the reality in what they are learning?
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