NC Schools To Teach US History Starting in 1877
The North Carolina public school system is planning on making a minor change to the US history curriculum that will be taught to high school students; and by minor change, I mean they are going to cut out nearly 400 years (from 1492 to 1876)of United States history. Yes, that’s right, NC public schools have proposed to start teaching United States history to high school students starting in the year 1877. Children in NC public schools won’t learn about the discovery and colonization of America. They won’t be taught about the Declaration of Independence or the events that led up to it. They won’t learn about the revolutionary war or the authoring of the constitution. They will not learn nor will they understand the importance of the principles of liberty and freedom. No, they won’t learn any of that. They will only learn about the progressive era, and the events that led to it. What’s North Carolina public school’s excuse for doing this? They say that they want children to be able to connect to history, and to be able to correlate historical events with present day events. What’s the truth? The truth is that progressives are trying to advance their progressive agenda. Think about it! What’s the best way to get more people to think the same way you do? Simple, start indoctrinating them at a young age. Teach kids only your ideas; then that is all they will know. By the time they grow up you’ll have an entire generation of nothing but progressive North Carolinians. Extend this idea throughout the entire country and you’ll have an entire country of progressive lunatics. The truly terrifying thing about this proposed curriculum change is that it could potentially spread throughout the country. Progressivism spreads like a virus. Do any of you out there still think that the government should be in charge of our children’s education?
There is one thing that I can say for certain about all of this. My wife and I moved to North Carolina a year ago. Next year we will be residents of Virginia.
You are leaving out some important information in your post. Students in North Carolina would not be missing the first four hundred years of US History because that would be the curriculum for 8th grade students.
Being an 8th grade social studies teacher for seven years in North Carolina I gladly welcome the change. I do not believe it is a progressive cause. I believe it is a reaction to the fact that the curriculum is too large to be taught effectively in the time allotted. In reality in middle school students have science and social studies every other day. This means the students have only 90 days in each class. Once you take out days for EOG testing, field trips, pictures, etc.. Most teachers are only left with sixty-seventy days to teach all of US History. It is an impossible task to accomplish if you want to do an effective job and to give the students a true understanding of the history of our nation.
The change in curriculum would allow the first part of US History to be taught in 8th grade while the second half would be taught later in high school. This is how the vast majority of colleges break down US history. The only problem I see is that I believe the two curriculums would be back to back and not spread out between 8th and high school for a better understanding for the students.
“Once you take out days for EOG testing, field trips, pictures, etc.. [m]ost teachers are only left with sixty-seventy days to teach all of US History.” – Maybe that useless fluff should be eliminated instead.
Also, kids in 8th grade don’t have the maturity to appreciate (or even remember) history, especially given the dry, boring and uninspiring way it is usually taught.