A Chicago teacher on “Click Clack Moo.”

A Chicago teacher writes:

Fred,

I wrote an article for Chicago Teachers Union on using that book to teach working conditions, negotiating, collective bargaining and workers rights to my preschoolers. It was published in the June issue. If you don’t teach children their history they won’t know what to fight for in the future. I started this year’s lesson with the Civil Rights Movement with the current event of the Dr. King Memorial. My students know what a march is and a protest. They were shocked to learn that many years ago my teacher assistant and I couldn’t drink out of the same drinking fountain. At their young age they understand people want places to live, food to eat, doctors to go to when you’re sick and a job. Especially because many of our parents are unemployed. They know I go to marches and events to speak in their behalf. Their parents, my colleagues and friends know it too. And most of all, thanks to Duck, they know to choose your negotiator carefully. Pushing an agenda through math? How about using real life examples to make math more meaningful so that students understand it? Young children can understand a lot more than people give them credit for if it is put in terms and language they understand. To say that seniors don’t understand this is an insult. The inner city students are being undermined and denied the education they need to succeed in this world. They need social studies, science, art, music, technology as well as reading and writing. They need to learn to analyze all sides of a situation before making a decision. They need to learn how to ask questions. But before they can do that they have to have some knowledge as to what to question. I’m not sold on capitalism, democracy, socialism, communism, any of it. I’m sold on whatever would provide decent living conditions, health care, jobs, etc. for all. As for my agenda? It’s to properly prepare my students with a rich curriculum in math, science, literacy, social studies, history, art, music and technology in spite of the system. Not because of it.