Jean in Newcastle Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 as in should I even be teaching my kids? Ds12 was given the game "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader". Do kids in these grades really know all this stuff? Like what year the Erie canal was built? And what percentage of sunlight hits the earth? It doesn't help that Ds12 was arguing with the game's answers. He's off in his room googling to confirm if their answers were right or not. . . I told him that he can contact them with any discrepancies he finds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 IMO, I honestly think they don't. They study for the show as any other game show. They had some serious grammar questions on there one time and it was supposed to be 1st grade info. I'm like yeah...I "learned" to read in 1st. But I do think they overfill kids with info in elementary years above their aptitude to really comprehend and process it all, which is why the ps system turns out kids in the latter years like high school that know nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 as in should I even be teaching my kids? Ds12 was given the game "Are you smarter than a 5th Grader". Do kids in these grades really know all this stuff? Like what year the Erie canal was built? And what percentage of sunlight hits the earth? It doesn't help that Ds12 was arguing with the game's answers. He's off in his room googling to confirm if their answers were right or not. . . I told him that he can contact them with any discrepancies he finds! My thoughts are that maybe they do teach this stuff in 5th grade but I can't see that it's useful information to remember for your whole life. Geometry - useful. The year the Erie Canal was built - not useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 So, suppose they pull minutia from every fifth grade TM in America. So, theoretically, each bit of that could have been presented to a 5th grade class somewhere -- if the teacher got to it. But it hardly means that every 5th grade student heard or remembered or mastered every bit of it. Just that it's in somebody's mental version of "What Every 5th Grader Ought to Know." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 (edited) I know in the first season of the show -- the questions were typical of the curriculum taught (doesn't mean the student mastered it... lol) as per state standards. I used to be a K-6 teacher and always surprised my family by answering the question correct when we watched this game show. But truthfully, it was in the textbooks I taught from... after 15 years, you will know it! I have not seen the recent series so I do not know the current questions or the board game. Honestly, my students never remembered any of it after the chapter test. That type of teaching made the kiddos parrot back meaningless info. Muddy water of info in and muddy water of info out, kwim? Edited December 27, 2009 by tex-mex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted December 27, 2009 Author Share Posted December 27, 2009 You've made me feel better. Now we did know many of the questions - even dd8 knew many of them. But I did feel like it showed some of our holes in our learning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 But it's ok to have gaps in your learning. No one can master everything! Some of my dd's gaps come from being neoclassical homeschoolers and just now hitting the highlights of Am History. She'll get there eventually, and she'll have the backround of knowing her history in context! I do think there's an awful lot shoved at kids in ps. Not much seems to be retained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 But it's ok to have gaps in your learning. No one can master everything! Some of my dd's gaps come from being neoclassical homeschoolers and just now hitting the highlights of Am History. She'll get there eventually, and she'll have the backround of knowing her history in context! I do think there's an awful lot shoved at kids in ps. Not much seems to be retained. Also keep in mind that many 5th graders today have huge gaps in their knowledge of basic grammar, world history, and other subjects that our kids don't have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 You've made me feel better. Now we did know many of the questions - even dd8 knew many of them. But I did feel like it showed some of our holes in our learning! But if you watch the show, your perspective might change, and you'll be impressed with what your kids actually know compared to the general population. :) Honestly, if anyone would know the answers to most of the questions, it would be homeschoolers. I have such issues with "teaching to the test," but I can see the benefits in the situations where it is used. How's that for sounding PC? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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