The Miseducation of Greek Children
While helping my son study his english assignment for his 6th grade english test tomorrow, I was absolutely shocked to see that he was learning how to insult other children. See the following two examples.
Unit 1 (page 9)
Give a nickname to someone who is:
too short
too fat
too smart
thin as a twig
Unit 1 (page 11)
"By the time you're thin, fat will be in." your brother (diagram depicting a notice board in a child's room.)
Upon further scrutiny, I discovered that my son will be tested on spelling with words like: conrer (corner), Quatemala (Guatemala), Colombus (Columbus--the explorer), antilope (antelope), piranchas (piranhas), Atlanda (Atlanta). I've inserted the correct spellings in parentheses.
He will also learn that India has a bigger population than China. They also state that Greenland is the largest island in the world. I was always taught that Australia was. Even though it's an island-continent, doesn't negate the fact that it's still an island. But I'm willing to concede this point if they would proof-read the textbook for the rest of the spelling errors at least.
And the worst of it all? When I inform his English teacher of these errors, she will no doubt tell me again that she can only teach what's in the book and that it is not her fault. I have just e-mailed the Ministry of Education's website informing them of my findings. Who knows? Someone there may actually read it. If not, then I'll be doing more homework than my son over the next 6 years in an effort to get him a decent education. He may not enjoy studying with me but at least he'll know that China has more people than India.
Unit 1 (page 9)
Give a nickname to someone who is:
too short
too fat
too smart
thin as a twig
Unit 1 (page 11)
"By the time you're thin, fat will be in." your brother (diagram depicting a notice board in a child's room.)
Upon further scrutiny, I discovered that my son will be tested on spelling with words like: conrer (corner), Quatemala (Guatemala), Colombus (Columbus--the explorer), antilope (antelope), piranchas (piranhas), Atlanda (Atlanta). I've inserted the correct spellings in parentheses.
He will also learn that India has a bigger population than China. They also state that Greenland is the largest island in the world. I was always taught that Australia was. Even though it's an island-continent, doesn't negate the fact that it's still an island. But I'm willing to concede this point if they would proof-read the textbook for the rest of the spelling errors at least.
And the worst of it all? When I inform his English teacher of these errors, she will no doubt tell me again that she can only teach what's in the book and that it is not her fault. I have just e-mailed the Ministry of Education's website informing them of my findings. Who knows? Someone there may actually read it. If not, then I'll be doing more homework than my son over the next 6 years in an effort to get him a decent education. He may not enjoy studying with me but at least he'll know that China has more people than India.
Lol. Who publishes the textbook?
Posted by
melusina |
3/10/05 16:16
And that's just the english book.Groan. What are they teaching our kids? Not just here but everywhere. I have considered home school (I think it's illegal here?) but I was worried my kid would miss the social aspects of school life. Good for you for taking action. I will definately be more vigilant in future.
Posted by
deviousdiva |
3/10/05 18:48
I'm very interested to know who the publisher of the book is.
Posted by
|
3/10/05 19:25
The spelling mistakes absolutely reek of a Greek without a good knowledge of translating into English. I've been looking at the mistakes and from the Greek word, I can see why they've done it but it's wrong. Except the obvious typo on corner and God knows how they came up with Quatemala.
Good luck to your son! Hopefully he won't loose too many marks for having the right answers
Posted by
Anonymous |
3/10/05 19:41
ΟΡΓΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΕΚΔΟΣΕΩΣ ΔΙΔΑΚΤΙΚΩΝ ΒΙΒΛΙΩΝ-Organization of Publishers for Educational Books in Athens is the company that publishes the book for The Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. The title is Fun Way English 3 Student's Book.
I'm just waiting for the first time my son's teacher sends him home to re-write his "wrong" answers 50 times. Last year, I spoke to the teacher about this and the fact that she deducted points for correct answers just because they weren't "in the book". I'll be on the rampage this year if it happens again.
Posted by
The SeaWitch |
4/10/05 15:07
Well, you really have to wonder with the wealth of native English speakers living in Greece, why they don't endeavor to work with one in order to publish the textbook accurately.
Be careful of the teacher who teaches because "that is what the textbook says". The teacher should be able to teach their subject independently of the textbook.
Posted by
melusina |
5/10/05 19:45
My son just found a gem in the back of his maths text book (grade three). They print the multiplication table there and apparently 9 times 8 is 64.
Posted by
deviousdiva |
19/10/05 12:31
It makes me wonder if the education ministry has any proofreaders at all Diva? I bet your son was thrilled at finding a mistake...my son always is when he finds them. It's everything I can do to convince that he is not 'smarter than the teacher' and yes, he still has to go to school. LOL
Posted by
The SeaWitch |
19/10/05 14:13
LOL!! That made me laugh. I have the same problem with my son. He was thrilled and even more thrilled that I blogged him.
Posted by
deviousdiva |
19/10/05 14:16