A confusing thing happened to me when doing Summer camp with my twins recently. In an effort to teach kids the names of continents, biomes, and oceans, the instructors went over each one in decent detail for younger children.
However, there were 5 oceans!
To my memory, there were only 4 when I was a kid. I know polar ice caps are melting, but did they seriously melt enough to produce another ocean? Without a memo to the world?
There, on the website, was the usual: Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Pacific…and a new one called the Southern Ocean.
In an effort to ease my confusion and prove to myself I wasn’t crazy, I consulted my world map, which shows the tried and true 4 oceans. Therefore, I'm not crazy. At least not for this reason. So, here's another thing that changed since I was a student.
I get it. Things change. However, too much has changed since I was in school. I know there are some things that are always changing, always in flux. The changing times with new technology and changing geographical borders such as in Eastern Europe come to mind.
But history shouldn’t change.
Yet it has. George Washington didn’t really cut down a cherry tree saying “I cannot tell a lie.” Plus, he had slaves! Where was that in my history book? It seems to be common knowledge now, but so many things were glossed over or left out when I was learning world history back in school.
Columbus gave smallpox blankets to Native Americans? Not cool…and also not told to me when I was in school.
And Lincoln read by candle light in that old log cabin of his at night? Ummm…there was no electricity. That’s how everyone read if they read at night.
History isn't the only thing that has undergone change since my time as a student. Science has taken a hit or two as well.
The number of planets shouldn’t change, yet it has. Goodbye, Pluto. Alas, I knew you well. I mean, what did “my very eager mom just serve us” if not PICKLES?
And now? A 5th ocean.
This is why I’m not smarter than a 5th grader! They keep changing the game.
It's also why we, as adults, must never stop learning. For people my parents' age, continuing to learn keeps their brains active. That's a wonderful thing as well, of course. But, for me, if I'm meant to help educate my sons, keeping abreast of all these changes helps me teach them correctly. It also helps me not sound foolish in front of them by them knowing a lot of things I don't!
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