Miriam came home from school the week of President's day with the old George Washington/cherry tree story. We all know that's false, right? Out of all the stories that could have been shared, and I'm pretty sure ol' George had an interesting life, her teacher chose to share a myth. They missed school for this holiday, so we have there attention. Couldn't we tell a true story about the man? Maybe she could have mentioned something about the Revolutionary War or the constitution. She could have even told of his greatness in refusing the office of President for a third term, showing that he believed in a country that didn't give too much power to only one man. If those stories seem too boring to captivate first greaders, I'm sure the woman could have found something else.
I can't decide if her teacher meant to tell this story. Maybe she explained that the story is told to show the honesty and integrity of our first president. Is it possible that this strong image of honesty will help Miriam as she learns more about him in the future? She will believe all his other great deads because she knows that he is honest. Or, will she ignore history in the future because some of her first lessons included myths taught as truth. She may think, "What can I believe, you make up stories." Which is more important, stuffy old facts or lovely myths? We revere Washington, so why not make him into some kind of legend? I'm thinking that Washington doesn't need made up stories to show his greatness. He did some pretty amazing things. Can we please teach our children about his real accomplishments.
4 comments:
I did not know that it was a myth. But now I do.
http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/washingtonscherrytree
Seems like it's mostly agreed that the story was made up to demonstrate his honesty. :)
I've always hated that the three things we remember about Washington are the cherry tree, which is false, the wooden teeth, which isn't totally true and the wig. As a former History major it really bugs me that there are really great things that he should be known for and they ignore them. It's almost inexcusable. I really questioned Natalee when they learned about Washington to see if her teacher told it to them and as far as I can tell, she didn't. She knows that he's on the quarter, that he was very honest and that he wore a wig. I'm happy with that.
Yeah, that bothers me too. The same happens here with Thanksgiving too.
It didn't go down quite like they make it seem in Kindergarten.
Amen to Shilo and Holly. Gotta love "history".
Post a Comment