No discussion of election at dd' school?

[EmsMom]

I can't quite believe it. My dd is in 4th grade. There has been virually no discussion of the election this year in the classroom. I find that kind of shocking. We homeschooled until last year and I am not thrilled with the school scene at all. But, I can't believe that they don't discuss what is going on in the world at all...

[lolar2]

I've heard reports of playground fights and tears-- maybe they are trying to prevent that.

[octobermom]

It wont be on there next standarized test so why bother. (said with huge sartastic tone)

Deanna

[karne]

I am suprised to hear that as well. My kid's public school had mock debates and ballot voting for both age related interests as well as presidential candidates, as an entire school. The older children especially seemed to feel really proud of their involvement, and of their opinions being solicited.

[CarrieMF]

Canada had our election just over a month ago. I do not believe that Grade 4 touched on election or politics at all, but Grade 5 did just earlier than originally planned.lol The election process & pm's was part of the Grade 5 curriculum this year, but planned for later in the year. When the election was called in early September they had to rush to bump it up & rush to finish their Olympic stuff. Grade 4 did Olympics too. I know it's different in the US as you have set election dates, but maybe elections just aren't part of the curriculum for that grade.

[1xmom]

In my dd's class they had both vp and pres. debates. They also had a mock election. My dd was soo into it. She couldn't wait to go to school to tell her friends who won the election. I told her that more than likely, everyone knows :

[annethcz]

Our kids talked about the election in basic terms and held a mock election. But I know of other schools that didn't do this because the election was already causing problems. I know a couple of people whose children were picked on and teased because of which candidate the child or the child's parents supported.

[jennaugustson]

wow. that's kinda strange in the 4th grade to have zero discussion about it. was it just that specific teacher or the entire grade/school? my dd's elem. school voted through a national program (studies weekly i believe was the name). maybe you could suggest that for your school. it was amazing! dd (who is 5) was so excited to get her voter reg. card, they voted by precincts, and were very into who won..it was held on monday and was cool to have her so excited about the election and voting process. she heard many debates in our home leading up to the event, but i was impressed w/ the school's role as well..
good luck.

[meowmix]

My kids "voted" the in the election at school. Even my K level daughter got into it. They learned about the voting process and then cast their votes and got the little "I voted" sticker. They were thrilled to feel involved! I was a little disappointed they could only vote for the two major candidates, but at least they got to learn about what was happening.

[supervee]

Our kids do this here:
http://www.kidsvotingusa.org/

I wonder if your school would consider engaging them next election cycle?

[sunnmama]

I don't know if they did anything during class time (my dd was out sick the entire last week), but I do know that the kids discussed it on their own at lunch! Dd came home knowing which candidate each child at her lunch table favored, and I guess they had their own 2nd grade version of a debate I thought that was pretty cool.

eta...I asked dd, and they are doing a unit on elections for social studies...so, yes, they are discussing it in class.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by CarrieMF

Canada had our election just over a month ago. I do not believe that Grade 4 touched on election or politics at all, but Grade 5 did just earlier than originally planned.lol The election process & pm's was part of the Grade 5 curriculum this year, but planned for later in the year. When the election was called in early September they had to rush to bump it up & rush to finish their Olympic stuff. Grade 4 did Olympics too. I know it's different in the US as you have set election dates, but maybe elections just aren't part of the curriculum for that grade.

Canada too and DD's class (grade four) and the talked about the Canadian election. They also talked about the US one.

[LiamnEmma]

Go figure, but ds' fourth grade class had zero discussion per his report and dd's second grade class had discussion and a vote (50-50, which did not match our state by any means). She made sure her Obama shirt was clean so she could wear it on election day and I'm told she dreamily said, "I love Barack" when her teacher asked her why she backed him. LOL

[straighthaircurly]

Originally Posted by annethcz

But I know of other schools that didn't do this because the election was already causing problems. I know a couple of people whose children were picked on and teased because of which candidate the child or the child's parents supported.

That would indicate to me that the school needs to spend MORE time on it. The kids need to learn how to respect each other's views and how special this country is because we are allowed to hold different views from each other and express them in productive ways. Shoving it under the rug and ignoring it is seriously short sighted IMO. Healthy debate needs to be taught rather than the name calling crap that is on the "talk" stations on the radio. Kids need to learn how to process accurate vs. inaccurate information in order to become good citizens who can protect our constitution and make educated voting decisions.

[mojumi]

DS's elem school held a school-wide mock election and in his class (K) they discussed voting rights pioneers like Susan B Anthony.

I would be upset if my child's teacher or school promoted one candidate/party over another, but a general discussion of why we vote, who can vote, and the basics of the democratic system seems pretty important to discuss in school!

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by straighthaircurly

Kids need to learn how to process accurate vs. inaccurate information in order to become good citizens who can protect our constitution and make educated voting decisions.

Amen to that!!!! The inability has caused me a couple of headaches the past few weeks and I'm not even in the US... I can't say more then that though, not with out a UAV anyway...

[Porcelain Interior]

Our schools don't spend any time on anything that won't be on the WASL. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing...udent_Learning

Hopefully our new superintendent of public instruction will change that.

[Marcee]

Originally Posted by Porcelain Interior

Our schools don't spend any time on anything that won't be on the WASL. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing...udent_Learning

Hopefully our new superintendent of public instruction will change that.

I certainly hope Dorn will change things.

There was zero discussion of the election at our local schools on the elem. and middle school levels. I do not have a highschooler though, so I am not sure if they talked about things there. The only thing that was done for the election was my 12 year old got 10 ex points for watching the last debate and ex points for watching the election night coverage.

But if it is not on the bloody WASL they just dont care to cover it.....:

[MusicianDad]

Hearing about things like that make me thankful I'm in Canada. I can't tell you how many times teachers have gone off on a tangent while I was going to school, DD's teacher has at times randomly decided it was time to put suchandsuch a topic aside and talk about something outside the normal curriculum.

My grade 10 Social Studies class, at least two days a week we spent the class talking about something that was going on in the news and when we had seat work, she let us pick what music we wanted to listen too (it was usually Bob Marley).

[EmsMom]

I can certainly understand not endorsing candidates and all. Elections might be very nicely covered in the 5th or 6th grade curriculum and all. But, my 4th grader won't see another presidential election until she is in 8th grade. And she may never see one this historic. And, to really help engage kids into voting and following the race, there are now a 10 year old and a 7 year old girl (and a new dog) heading to the white house with their Daddy. Yeah, I know it isn't on the test, but geez...