History of the Star spangled banner

My wife teaches english and social studies to 7th and 8th grade students. She is no longer surprised at what they were not taught. She passionately takes the time and fights the NEA to make sure the kids know the true history of our country and the sacrifices that they made.
 
I used to give my presentation about the Revolutionary Rifleman frequently in schools. Then it eventually came about that the students had not the slightest idea of what I was talking about. They knew (know) nothing about the American Revolution, it simply isn't being taught. For a while I gave a quickie lesson but realized that could not substitute for real teaching in the classroom. To say why this has happened would violate our 'no politics' rule here. I'm bustin' a gut wanting to go into it, but won't. :(
I'll be giving my presentation to a large Christian school after the 1st and have been assured they know what the Rev. was all about.
 
I would surmise that what is being taught in schools isn't the same everywhere.... I know that the girls (in 10th grade) have had a decent amount of studies on various aspects of our history including a pretty in depth section on the civil war..... so I told one of them about this thread and here is what she said
"the star spangled banner the song? ok ok Francis Scott Key was a prisoner on a British ship at Ft McHenry in the war of 1812. The British were shooting at, bombarding the fort and it looked like the Americans were pretty much doomed. But then through a little hole in the ship after all the bombarding was done saw that the flag was still there and so he wrote on the back of an envelope a poem which is what is our national anthem and when the envelope was found it became our national anthem".
She can't remember who found the poem or the specific details of how it became the anthem but said she learned most of it last year. She also said that she learned about the revolutionary war and the battle of Lexington and Concord etc etc..... and that she has notes on all that stuff down stairs in her history notebook which she is saving for AP History next year.
So perhaps it is not as much what kids are being taught as what they are willing to learn.
 
My wife teaches english and social studies to 7th and 8th grade students. She is no longer surprised at what they were not taught. She passionately takes the time and fights the NEA to make sure the kids know the true history of our country and the sacrifices that they made.

Bob,

Maybe the initials are mistyped? Last time I checked, the NEA doesn't have a lot to say about the K-12 curriculum. You know who does? The Texas State Textbook Committee.

Their best one last year? Deciding that John Calvin was way more important than Thomas Jefferson! ;) In the study of American History! ;)

And because their textbook orders are so big, they decide what gets taught in other states. So everyone who says the system is broken is perfectly correct!

It's a pity Jefferson isn't a founding father anymore. I always kind of liked him... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
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Just a friendly reminder about the CoC. Seems like we are wandering a bit from the original topic of the thread and are veering towards both the religious and political... Thanks in advance for your consideration and cooperation! :thumb:
 
Bob,

Maybe the initials are mistyped? Last time I checked, the NEA doesn't have a lot to say about the K-12 curriculum. You know who does? The Texas State Textbook Committee.

Their best one last year? Deciding that John Calvin was way more important than Thomas Jefferson! ;) In the study of American History! ;)

And because their textbook orders are so big, they decide what gets taught in other states. So everyone who says the system is broken is perfectly correct!

It's a pity Jefferson isn't a founding father anymore. I always kind of liked him... ;)

Thanks,

Bill

You are very correct Bill. It's not religious or political; it is fact. Texas determines what the rest of us use for text books.
 
I'm not suggesting anyone had taken things over the line, I'm just posting a respectful suggestion to keep the CoC in mind.

Thanks again for your cooperation...
 
Well lets see we have 3 different version but one thing is certain is that Francis Scott Key was the author

I heard it was actually his sister, Ima Monk Key. :rofl:

I agree with the complaints about our education system, and I'm glad I don't have kids in it. The Los Angeles Unified School system has a 59.4% dropout rate. Them's some good schoolin' right there. :rolleyes: I know there are lots of good, well-qualified teachers out there who really do want to make things better, but I suspect the system is so broken they can't make any headway. There are also teachers out there who are as dumb as a box of rocks. And neither kind of teacher can make a difference if the parents aren't also playing a major role in raising their kids.
 
I agree with Brent that this could easily get out of hand, and in the spirit of the season I'd like to bow out of this particular discussion. :)

I do want to say this, though: I've known some awfully good teachers, and seen some awfully good school systems. On the other hand, I've also taught students who came out of systems that didn't meet that standard. :dunno:

What breaks my heart is what's happening in your neck of the woods, Vaughn. You're right about the situation, but until the late 70's / early 80's that system was literally the envy of the world. Not anymore, alas. :doh:

But there *is* good news: because of the web, any kids who really burn for knowledge can get it now. They can download just about any lecture, any course they want, from Berkeley, Stanford, MIT or Yale. They can get the best education the world has to offer, for free. And so can some kid in Bangladesh or Bengali, who didn't have a prayer a decade ago. :thumb:

Peace,

Bill
 
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