My son's class today learned there are 9 planets in the Solar System

jessiejam

Did anyone else open this thread thinking it would be praising the montessori school for teaching them about the solar system in the first place?.

My four year old did montessori when he was 3. He is now in pre-school, where he has great fun painting, learning poems, songs and playing,and couldn't give a ****e how many planets are in the solar system.
I'm sure it won't affect his future career path.

Chill a little, he won't even remember going there.
I would have also thought there were 9 planets and that is probably what the fetac level 5 teacher would have learned in school too, unless she regularly takes a special interest in it.
Unless you have an astronomer teaching your child i wouldn't worry about it.
Maybe look for a school for him that has?

mariano rivera

jessiejam wrote: »

Did anyone else open this thread thinking it would be praising the montessori school for teaching them about the solar system in the first place?.

My four year old did montessori when he was 3. He is now in pre-school, where he has great fun painting, learning poems, songs and playing,and couldn't give a ****e how many planets are in the solar system.
I'm sure it won't affect his future career path.

Chill a little, he won't even remember going there.
I would have also thought there were 9 planets and that is probably what the fetac level 5 teacher would have learned in school too, unless she regularly takes a special interest in it.
Unless you have an astronomer teaching your child i wouldn't worry about it.
Maybe look for a school for him that has?

Send the kid to SPACE SCHOOL!

namloc1980

juan.kerr wrote: »

And this does?

Yep. The question was why demote it from being a planet, and I gave some of the reasons:

1. It's small....smaller than at least 7 moons of other planets, and,
2. It has orbital characteristics different to all the other planets.

Seems fairly straightforward to me.

namloc1980

golden lane wrote: »

the child is too young to need indept knowledge about any subject....

maybe the teacher is aware of that, and was just teaching the general idea.....

if so, well done him......

Why would a teacher knowingly give the wrong info to children???

Liamario

golden lane wrote: »

the child is too young to need indept knowledge about any subject....

maybe the teacher is aware of that, and was just teaching the general idea.....

if so, well done him......

Naming the planets in our solar system isn't exactly going to get you a masters in astro physics, but if someone is getting paid to teach your child, you don't want him to be giving wrong information.

Capt'n Midnight

My Grandfather was taught there were only 8 planets :eek:

telecaster

take everything wrote: »

What happened with this OP.
Jupiter straight or not?

Ah, you're gas altogether

telecaster

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

My Grandfather was taught there were only 8 planets :eek:

What Montessori did he go to?

Scioch

humbert wrote: »

I'm not sure whether you're joking or serious but a kid should never be scolded for asking why and should be encouraged to think critically.

Who said scold anyone for asking anything ????? If the kids asks ya tell him the truth but you dont undermines their primary teacher by telling the kid they are wrong and teaching him to second guess everything they say. If your gonna do that you may as well home school them.

They will have time to question and come to their own conclusions later in life but at that age they should trust their teachers.

Gyalist

telecaster wrote: »

My concern that there doltards at the helm was growing.

Your son's teachers may well be dolts and dullards but doltard is not a word.

Sinfonia

golden lane wrote: »

the child is too young to need indept knowledge about any subject....

maybe the teacher is aware of that, and was just teaching the general idea.....

if so, well done him......

The 'general idea' is that there are 8 planets in our solar system, not 9..
Hardly indepth knowledge..

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

My Grandfather was taught there were only 8 planets :eek:

Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930!

kowloon

Liamario wrote: »

Naming the planets in our solar system isn't exactly going to get you a masters in astro physics, but if someone is getting paid to teach your child, you don't want him to be giving wrong information.

It's BSc stuff at best.

telecaster

Gyalist wrote: »

Your son's teachers may well be dolts and dullards but doltard is not a word.

It's a portmanteau insult you spanner

sethasaurus

Basically, the solution is to move to an English-speaking country, at least.

cena

I don't believe in kids going to these places. I feel you can teach you child better than what they well learn in a place like that.

How did we all get on without these places before they started popping up all over the place.

How many of ous on here with to a place like that?

LordSutch

Jerzzez its MONTESORI School, does it really matter? Oh Lord, even to scientists like Stephen Hawking this reclassification is a technicality.
I would say chill, I mean its not like he's in sixth form or anything )
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_B1LlYh6iKqs/TMjSXtHuwUI/AAAAAAAADN8/QBhXUthxNAs/s1600/stephen-hawking.jpg

Very impressed that your kids are learning the planets in Preschool.

magicbastarder

i have only just now received the 'Official Notification To All Registered Members from the Joint Working Group of the International Astronomical Union and the Worldwide Montessori Association' that there are now eight planets.

it's not a big deal, it's montessori.

Boombastic

Sure while they're at it why don't they teach them the sun goes around the earth

Don't Chute!

This has to be one of the most ridiculous threads i have seen in a long time, if this 4 year old scholar was told 2+2 = 10 or that the earth is flat, maybe start worrying! They still teach religion in schools for fcuk sake!

RobbingBandit

This is what happens when you pay someone else to raise your child OP, be warned tomorrow he may come home liking a different sports team to you.

Mrs Garth Brooks

Pluto isn't a planet?

What happened? And when did this happen?

Nulty

Rigol wrote: »

No mommy Pluto is not a planet, it was re-classified 3 years ago by Prof gringinwaldensfeld of harvard university astronomy department in a paper titled 'daddy why are there stars'.

what are you expecting of a 4/5/6 year old?

No mommy a spider isnt an insect its an arachnid, no mommy the sea isn't blue thats just the atmosphere reflecting on the surface, in fact water has no colour.

No dear, water does have a colour and it is ever so slightly blue. And don't talk back to your mommy or I'll kick your teeth in. OK?

Archeron

Where do deathstars fit into all this?

Defiler Of The Coffin

Not all teachers are astronomers (or even that interested in science for that matter) and the text books they are using are probably outdated so I can see why it can happen. Pluto was reclassified recently. Also while they still teach religion in schools it would be down the list of priorities for me.

Still, no need to make a mistake if it can be avoided.

Saturn's rings look cool!

humbert

Archeron wrote: »

Where do deathstars fit into all this?

They're stars, obviously.

up for anything

telecaster wrote: »

The Montessori clearly has a sniff of itself: badged uniforms, fees above the state subsidised scheme, a rather patronising tone to parents etc.

We received 2 letters in the post from the Montessori ahead of the term starting. These were guidelines about how the school is run, procedural information, lunch details etc. Both of these official-styled correspondences were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. I counted 25 errors in one page which had no more than 6 paragraphs. It looked as if some of the more advanced kids at the school had composed the letter as a project.

My concern that there doltards at the helm was growing.

I don't expect absolutely everyone to know that Pluto was reclassified some years back and is no longer considered a planet. I do expect a professional educator to know it though.
before it.

What would you do in my position?

You seem to have disliked the school from the beginning. Why don't you take the child out of it. That is what I would do if I were in your position.

up for anything

cena wrote: »

How many of ous on here with to a place like that?

You're one of the teachers in that Montessori, aren't you? Go on, don't be ashamed to admit it.

Skylinehead

Archeron wrote: »

Where do deathstars fit into all this?

Moon: no.
Space Station: yes.

From Ben Kenobi's Big Book of Space.

cena

up for anything wrote: »

You're one of the teachers in that Montessori, aren't you? Go on, don't be ashamed to admit it.

Not a teacher at all

laoch na mona

Montessori ya puffter

Kidchameleon

OP,

I have a big car. My friend has a small car. By your reasoning, my friend doesn't have a car at all...

namloc1980

Kidchameleon wrote: »

OP,

I have a big car. My friend has a small car. By your reasoning, my friend doesn't have a car at all...

Clearly your friend has a dwarf car.

boogle

These Montessori teachers, are not actually teachers. They are (hopefully) qualified childcare staff. HUGE difference.

gozunda

Montessori me ^rse....try this for size!

I well remember in third year (Secondary School) that the Geography teacherasked each student to name a star

Easy thinks I - So I get off the mark quickly and list the nearest one forher like a good student - the Sun

When bam I got a negative from her

Says she - the sun is not a star....

So ok I says what is the sun then?

The sun is the sun! she says

So I says - Well if you travelled out into space and looked back at the sunwhat would you see then? says I

The sun says she!

But would it would diminish in apparent size and look like a star?- says I

No says she - it would be the sun!

Queue me banging my head on the desk repeatedly until unconscious

The next day I even brought in a frackin encyclopaedia AND she still refused to believe the sun is a star even when I opened the section on our own solar system....

This was secondary school with a "qualified" ie third level educated geography teacher


And we wonder why the country is in the mess it’s in ...

Where To

gozunda wrote: »

Montessori me ^rse....try this for size!

I well remember in third year (Secondary School) that the Geography teacherasked each student to name a star

Easy thinks I - So I get off the mark quickly and list the nearest one forher like a good student - the Sun

When bam I got a negative from her

Says she - the sun is not a star....

So ok I says what is the sun then?

The sun is the sun! she says

So I says - Well if you travelled out into space and looked back at the sunwhat would you see then? says I

The sun says she!

But would it would diminish in apparent size and look like a star?- says I

No says she - it would be the sun!

Queue me banging my head on the desk repeatedly until unconscious

The next day I even brought in a frackin encyclopaedia AND she still refused to believe the sun is a star even when I opened the section on our own solar system....

This was secondary school with a "qualified" ie third level educated geography teacher


And we wonder why the country is in the mess it’s in ...

She's right. If the Sun was a star it would be called the Star. Stars are small and white. The Sun is big and yellow. Everyone knows that.

boogle

Well she's obviously a moron!

somegirl2009

Pluto used to be considered a planet in the sense that the Mercury or Jupiter is. However, it is now considered a dwarf planet because it lacks characteristics that define the planets in the Solar System.

so in fairness why would you argue!!!!!!!!

dwarf planet,--planet,

it is a planet. your son will understand when he is older.

dirtyden

Surely this story is an invention?

What preschool teaches astronomy?

gozunda

Where To wrote: »

She's right. If the Sun was a star it would be called the Star. Stars are small and white. The Sun is big and yellow. Everyone knows that.

Miss - is that you? are ye still teaching then?

Ahem hows that going for you?




Looks up phone number of Dept of Education....

Wee Willy Harris

honestly, it's a multiverse out there n if little jimmy isn't even correctly familiar with his immediate neighborhood then what chance

Thinkingaboutit

telecaster wrote: »

My 4 year old goes to Montessori 5 days per week. He had been attending a pre-school group 3 days a week the previous year and was due to do his 5 days per week there this year.

However his teachers said he was ready to do more learning than play, and they - to their great credit - recommended that he would flourish more in a Montessori environment. And so we switched him to the local Montessori.

The Montessori clearly has a sniff of itself: badged uniforms, fees above the state subsidised scheme, a rather patronising tone to parents etc.

We received 2 letters in the post from the Montessori ahead of the term starting. These were guidelines about how the school is run, procedural information, lunch details etc. Both of these official-styled correspondences were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. I counted 25 errors in one page which had no more than 6 paragraphs. It looked as if some of the more advanced kids at the school had composed the letter as a project.

My concern that there doltards at the helm was growing.

Today my son came home and told me he'd learned all about the solar system at school. He told me there were 9 planets. I told him there was 8, and counted them out to him. He told me I missed Pluto.

I don't expect absolutely everyone to know that Pluto was reclassified some years back and is no longer considered a planet. I do expect a professional educator to know it though.

I don't want to humiliate or embarass the Montessori owner/teacher, but I'm concerned my kid is going to be less wise after the year's experience than before it.

What would you do in my position?

I recall later that a teacher would be positively annoyed if a child corrected the teacher's outdated or incorrect knowledge of a topic. I mean once they have prepared for their class, some of them would regard it as a violation of their human rights to have time for shopping or Facebook reduced. Now that might be unfair for most educators, but a high portion of them are without the slightest trace of intellectual integrity or curiosity.

Gmol

telecaster wrote: »

nope, I wanted the AH opinion

Tell the teacher to stop talking out of uranus

Media999

Thats the first thing they teach you in Childcare courses!

What an idiot.

Send that child off to the priests for a proper education.

telecaster

dirtyden wrote: »

Surely this story is an invention?

What preschool teaches astronomy?

The Montessori teacher was doubtless trying to show off how their methods were making our kids so precocious.

To be honest, my biggest disappointment is that the youngfella didn't put her straight at the time - we've been through all this stuff with him before. He has conceded his intellectual space too easily. Won't happen again. I'll put it to him after piano lessons and opera appreciation class tomorrow evening.

rubadubduba

telecaster wrote: »

My 4 year old goes to Montessori 5 days per week. He had been attending a pre-school group 3 days a week the previous year and was due to do his 5 days per week there this year.

However his teachers said he was ready to do more learning than play, and they - to their great credit - recommended that he would flourish more in a Montessori environment. And so we switched him to the local Montessori.

The Montessori clearly has a sniff of itself: badged uniforms, fees above the state subsidised scheme, a rather patronising tone to parents etc.

We received 2 letters in the post from the Montessori ahead of the term starting. These were guidelines about how the school is run, procedural information, lunch details etc. Both of these official-styled correspondences were riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. I counted 25 errors in one page which had no more than 6 paragraphs. It looked as if some of the more advanced kids at the school had composed the letter as a project.

My concern that there doltards at the helm was growing.

Today my son came home and told me he'd learned all about the solar system at school. He told me there were 9 planets. I told him there was 8, and counted them out to him. He told me I missed Pluto.

I don't expect absolutely everyone to know that Pluto was reclassified some years back and is no longer considered a planet. I do expect a professional educator to know it though.

I don't want to humiliate or embarass the Montessori owner/teacher, but I'm concerned my kid is going to be less wise after the year's experience than before it.

What would you do in my position?

Believe me he'll be alot wiser in a years time, he'll learn things you or any teacher will ever learn him.

poisonated

I remember I was thought that Bono was a prophet. you learn all sorts of stuff in school.

Dum_Dum

Yeah, but what planet are you on?

Il Trap

One uninformed educator demonstrates a lack of knowledge. Don't tar all teachers as idiots!

Capt'n Midnight

Archeron wrote: »

Where do deathstars fit into all this?

It's orbiting Saturn
Disguised as Mimas.

telecaster

telecaster wrote: »

I counted 25 errors in one page which had no more than 6 paragraphs.

This I want to see.