Rounding History Dates?!?!

[mommaduck]

They have got to be flippin' kiddin' me!

I just found out from hubby and his cousin (his cousin is quite a bit younger than us) that they are ROUNDING off history dates! The cousin and his mother had gotten into an argument on when Columbus "discovered" America (don't get me started on that one ;) ). He said 1500; his mother said 1492. He swore up and down that he wasn't wrong, that this is what his teacher said. His mother had come to hubby, knowing cousin would listen if he heard it elsewhere. Yep, told him to go look it up in a library. 1492... (apparently this was happening in the late 1990's...I just heard about it this morning and needed to vent!)

Apparently this is supposed to be "easier" for kids to remember? What are these kids going to do when they get to university? Ugh! Bad time for a rude awakening.

[Chris in VA]

Unbelievable.

It's probably done in the name of getting history to be "more than just dates." You know, the the motive is probably good--so many people hated history as children because the presentation was dry as dust, the subject seemed irrelevant, it was just a list of dates, and so on. But rounding dates? Kinda throwing out the baby with the bath water!

That said, I do feel there are some dates that aren't as important as others, as long as the sequence of events is correct. But who gets to choose, in public school? We'll be learning dates in chronological order, for the most part, here at home.

[Ria]

If it helps any, this is NOT happening in our district's public schools. Dates are dates in their original form, lol.

Ria

[Jen3boys]

When I took History classes in college I had a prof. who felt that exact dates weren't as important as knowing the sequence and actual events, etc. Our exams were all essay questions, and we weren't required to know exact dates. However, if we wrote a date in our answer he would mark points off if the date was wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong w/giving an approximate date for many events, but only if you acknowledge that's it's approximate.

[Cadam]

It is these random incompetent teachers who give teachers a bad name. :glare:

These are the people who make parents wonder "what are our schools coming to!!"

[Shasta Mom]

I guess I don't feel that strongly about it. I was one of those children who memorized easily, and did so for tests, and although I did retain some of those dates, I never learned to think of them in context of the big picture. I haven't forced specific dates on my ds when we do history. Pretty much everything we discuss, we refer to our timeline on the wall and he puts it into a mental picture. I have always admired those who had the big picture on history. I guess I don't see the importance of knowing an exact date except for taking a test or regurgitating the date when a teacher demands it.

[nmoira]

When I took History classes in college I had a prof. who felt that exact dates weren't as important as knowing the sequence and actual events, etc. Our exams were all essay questions, and we weren't required to know exact dates. However, if we wrote a date in our answer he would mark points off if the date was wrong. I don't think there's anything wrong w/giving an approximate date for many events, but only if you acknowledge that's it's approximate.Emphasis mine. I agree completely.

[Karen sn]

I guess I don't feel that strongly about it. I was one of those children who memorized easily, and did so for tests, and although I did retain some of those dates, I never learned to think of them in context of the big picture. I haven't forced specific dates on my ds when we do history. Pretty much everything we discuss, we refer to our timeline on the wall and he puts it into a mental picture. I have always admired those who had the big picture on history. I guess I don't see the importance of knowing an exact date except for taking a test or regurgitating the date when a teacher demands it.

I agree with the big picture. Knowing the sequence of events is so much more important. We're gonna do history 2 times. The second time around I would like them to know their exact dates (I think high school is old enough to be accountable for that knowledge).

Just in case they're ever on Jeopardy I will not be teaching the rounded version of a date!

[Rhonda in TX]

I can understand choosing not to require that type of memorization, especially at a young age. However, I don't understand teaching an incorrect date. Obviously this person thought that 1500 was the date, not an approximation. It irritates me that either he was taught this, or the teacher was not clear about it being an approximation.

[mommaduck]

ITA...I'm not so worried about all the dates being memorised and am more concerned with time frames and events and their order. But for heaven's sake! If you are going to give a kid a date, it had better be the correct one!