Thread: What are your kids learning

Pro illegal stuff is already hitting the schools.
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... scholastic

Boy, I am going to get trounced on this and it is only my opinion, but --

I am upset that our local school doesn't teach small children to speak Spanish. They can learn it easier at that early age. They can learn it from each other at no cost to the taxpayers. I am not talking about conjugating verbs - but about being able to converse in the language.


Now I do understand the resentment - but whether we like it or not, the Mexicans are here to stay. I feel in my bones, there will some form of amnesty - and if not, they will allow those with anchor babies to stay.

If our kids can't speak Spanish when they grow up, they will be at a definite disadvantage. Already employment ads read, 'Bilingual a plus' 'Bilingual a must'. It isn't going to get any better.

I think anyone in the medical field, education field, government work that deals directly with people (social services, etc.), any area of law, etc., will need to be able to speak Spanish.

They can learn it at a young age or they can spend two years of their high school time attempting to learn to speak it. ,

We are going to be surrounded by these people and if the PResident gets his complete amnesty and family reunification, we will really be in trouble.
I think it might very well be a matter of life and death or safety, at least, to be able to know what these people are saying.

Whatever happens, things are going to get rough. If they get amnesty, they will be very overbearing. If they don't, they will be angry.

Also, believe it or not - Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world.

Any foreign language will be a plus, but if one is going to live in the America of tomorrow - Spanish would be the most advantageous.

So trounce on me - but give it some thought.

Parents need to pay close attention these days as to what their children are being taught in school. I am concerned about what may show up in history books

The history books have already been rewritten and have been for a long time. For instance and this was about 4 years ago. My sister had a highschool history book and I just took a look at it out of curiosity. The (correct) constitution was on one page and a politically correct constitution was on the facing page. I read the chapter on Pearl Harbor and there was about 3 sentences on the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan and about a page and a half about how the US had Japanese interment camps. History textbooks are very slanted to make America look bad as much as possible. I have been searching high and low for accurate history textbooks for children. The only ones I have been able to find are old textbooks which of course will not teach more recent history.

The schools are a fright, in fact they are not even schools any more. They are indoctrination centers for the dumbing down of our children and bombarding them with every far left crazy idea that comes down the pike.

My husband and I made the decision even before we had children that we would home school. My children will never see the inside of a school for this and many other reasons. This is one of those things that I feel very, very, very strongly about. I think too many parents are unaware of what their children are being told in school and just as importantly what they are not been taught. Our children are the future and based on what they are being told in government schools the future will be bleak indeed.

Originally Posted by dlm1968

The history books have already been rewritten and have been for a long time.
History textbooks are very slanted to make America look bad as much as possible. I have been searching high and low for accurate history textbooks for children. The only ones I have been able to find are old textbooks which of course will not teach more recent history.

Textbooks can be culturally, racially biased. As a teacher I've seen this before in history books. There was practically no native american history included in the textbooks and what was there made them appear to be primitive losers. What you CAN do is ask the school board when they have textbook adoption committees you would like to participate. They usually get teachers, parents, and administrators to work on this together. There are so many textbook companies now and so many to choose from!

As for the language in first grade....that is a good time to teach another language. Nntrixie, I agree with what you said. We do need to know the language of those invading our country, and that is what the majority of illegals speak. Being as we don't know the future of the immigration issue, it's not a bad idea that our children learn it. However, I think it is fair to offer more than one language. French, German, Japanese....anything as well as Spanish.

nntrixie,

I know where you are coming from but I think first grade is a little too soon. I'm all for learning another language if the person can use it. If it is not used, its easily forgotten. I took two years of German in high school and never used it and now can't remember much of it at all. I spent two years in South Korea while in the military and learned some Korean but, again, I've forgotten most all of that also.

We keep hearing about how behind American kids are in the math and science. Maybe we should have additional classes on that and leave the foreign languages for later??

Yes, I do think more languages should be offered, but if that child is going to stay in the US when he/she grows up, Spanish is going to be a must.

I read an article on the Texas bus explosion with the elderly people and one of the findings was the fact the driver didn't understand or speak English. The statement said the tragedy MIGHT have been avoided if he had known English.

They didn't elaborate on how this would have helped, but if that was the case, just think. If one, just one, of those elderly could have spoken Spanish, things might have turned out differently.

To me, Spanish is just a matter of survival. Now if one wants to learn a language for business purposes - I would suggest Chinese. Although, they are learning English.

Just think, Americans may very well become the minority in Texas if the amnesty and family reunification and even more guest worker programs are put in place. Suppose we find ourselves in a similar situation to the elderly - and it can and will happen. Suppose your kids find themselves in that situation -

Nothing to do with Spanish really, but being able to communicate is very important. I knew a lady that was in a terrible auto accident, she couldn't speak, but she was literally drowning in her own blood and the paramedics didn't realize it. She worked with hearing impaired children - so she used her sign language and one of the paramedics also knew sign language, did whatever was necessary and she survived.

Now we may never have to know sign llanguage - but it is a fact, we are going to need Spanish at some point in our future and our kids will need it even more.

As to rewritten textbooks - boy, do I know it. I fought with our kids schools, made them change some of the things they were teaching and even got on the committee to choose some textbooks. The sad thing, all the textbooks I reviewed were just ridiculous. I do remember one that I had chosen, it was a geography book for high schoolers. It was truly a geography book, all the rest were sociology books. When I discussed it with another member of the committee, she said she would never coose it because the print was too small!!!

One of those geography books said that most people in the South still made their living with 40 acres and a mule - I kid you not.

Don't worry Trixie, I understand what you are saying.
My daughters mother spoke spanish and I wanted her to teach our daughter the language when she was little but for some reason she refused to so it was left up to me to teach her what little I knew at the time. However this was a decsion I made as a parent of what to teach my child, I also choose to teach her about hand guns and rifles, these were choices I made as a parent they were not some state mandate.
To be honest my grandson is not the brightest kid and he is having problems with the english language as it is and I think it is way too early to teach him a different language.
The letters in spanish are pronounced differently than in english, we pronounce the letter "Y" as "why" but in spanish it is pronounced "E".
I have a little nephew who is learning the alphabet and he does good until you point to the letter "U" he replies "me".
I do think learning spanish or any other language is a good idea as long as you choose to do so, it makes no sense to me to spend the time and money to teach kids something they may never use.
I used to know a Japanese couple who immigrated here and had two sons, their english was not very good at the time and they were still learning it, can you imagine what they would think if their sons came home and spoke to them in spanish?

nntrixie,

I understand your POV, and even agree with a lot of it. Remember that my girls speak, read and write, 7 & 4 languages respectively, and that I went to the trouble of learning enough medical Spanish, that most times, I did NOT need a translator, while working in the ER in Miami. Depending on the attitudes exhibited, it wouldn't bother me, OR if they complained about my Spanish, or were hostile, well, I quickly forgot it.

MD,

However this was a decision I made as a parent of what to teach my child

I think this is the most important point. We've lost self-determination, again IMO.

Manderine Chinese (probably spelled wrong) is #1. Well as of a few years ago when they tried to pull the Spanish business on us. China is becomming a great power in the business world. Not to mention in the military sense. There are Chinese people immigrating here, legally and illegally. They have segments in towns in which their signs are in their language. Their children attend our schools and vote as well..........they just aren't marching in the streets demanding everything. They came here and aren't trying to turn us into "little China". Globally.......it would probably be better to learn Chinese than Spanish.

So I'm sorry......this country is English. Second language is a personal choice and shouldn't be forced in your own country to get a job or get care. It's part of their job to assimilate to OUR culture. If they suddenly open all the borders world wide. Are we then forced to learn an entire new language when that influx of immigrants become the majority? In the "global" world with our politicians out there deciding the fate of entire continents.....do they know all the languages? No. They all have little headphones on with an interpreterer(sp?).

What if your in an area where most of the new immigrants are middle-eastern or from Somalia? Should the English students be forced to learn that language to communicate with their friends? Trust me.....if this is allowed to go further....each new immigrant group is going to use the same tactic in order to not have to assimilate and to guarentee jobs and special treatment for "their" people at the expense of Americans. There isn't going to be a melting.....there is going to be more seperation. Right now they are running people out of towns and states and before long there won't be a place for Americans to go and hear English or speak it or get a job. You'll be choosing whether you can survive in a Spanish neighborhood or a Chinese neighborhood or a Korean neighborhood.etc.

We all know the writing has been on the wall for some time. I must confess, I've encouraged all of my children to take Spanish as their required foreign language. One daughter took Spanish in the fith grade (she's in 6th grade now), two boys and a daughter took two years of Spanish in high school to fulfill their foreign language requirement. The later three are now in college and each of them will take two years of Spanish (one is taking it now - his freshman year). Interestingly, my older daughter (in college now) wanted to take French in high school, but I finally convinced her that she would be better served taking Spanish.

Two years of high school Spanish will not make your child fluent in the language, but it will enable them to understand much of what is being said in the check out line at the grocery store, etc. You wouldn't believe some of the disrespectful stuff (nasty comments directed at women) my daughter has overheard while waiting in line at the grocery store. She told me they are constantly making remarks and comments about almost every women that passes by them. Unfortunately, knowing the language can be of great benefit. Furthermore, many of them are confident in saying whatever they want when they feel no one can understand them. It goes without saying that most of these individuals my daughter is talking about are probably illegal aliens (a lot of them around my area). Typically, American men of Spanish descent are no different than any other American man (most of them don't even speak Spanish that well).

While many may perceive some of my comments as being racially negative, they are not intended that way. As I said, we suspect most of the foul disrespectful comment directed towards women are coming from illegal immigrants. Perhaps the Mexican culture finds such behavior acceptable, or worse yet, maybe it is just the class (uneducated) of people coming here illegally from Mexico that is the problem.