It's Holiday Time, Kids!

If you think back to when you were a kid, how were you taught about Thanksgiving and Columbus Day? For me, in Elementary school we did fun activities about what we were thankful for on Thanksgiving, learned the basic vocabulary about "Pilgrims, harvests, Native Americans" etc. and learned the general idea about what the holiday was about. We were also taught that Christopher Columbus was the first to land in America and were taught the fun "1492" rhymes as well. However, we were never actually taught about the true meaning of Thanksgiving, or the violent and gruesome details that go along with it. Or how Columbus wasn't actually the first to sail to America and settle. So, is it fair that children are being fed fake information about these holidays?

I did some research and found examples of a good lesson plan for Thanksgiving and a bad lesson plan for Thanksgiving: 

- This lesson plan to me seemed like a good idea because it gets the children to think about the true meaning of Thanksgiving, not just about the "giving thanks" and "food" aspects of the holiday. It may not get into full details about what really happened on Thanksgiving, and the events that led up to it, however it does help them realize that there is a more in-depth explanation of the holiday and what's behind it.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp029.shtml

- This next lesson plan I found to be a bad way of teaching solely due to the fact that it is clearly meant for fun, and does not actually teach children much of anything when it comes to Thanksgiving. It merely brushes the surface of what the holiday is actually about. This is actually quite typical from my experience and from what I've seen of what teachers would give their students to help "teach" them about Thanksgiving. This also incorporates more of an artistic idea, rather than just having the children do actual factual work when it comes to learning. 

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp028.shtml

Columbus Day is another one of those holidays that is falsely taught to children. Again, they learn the basics while doing some fun coloring activity about the Nina, the Pinta or the Santa Maria. And like I've said, teachers only ever brush the surface. But if I really put some thought into it, I don't think that as a teacher I would want to teach my young students about what really happened on Thanksgiving, or tell them the truth about Columbus Day. I believe that by them not knowing the truth, it is only preserving their innocence, and in the long run it isn't really hurting them to not know every single detail, including the awful ones, about the holidays. As a teacher, I am going to give them as much information as possible, without overloading them and without scaring them. As much as I don't think lying is right, in some situations it doesn't seem too bad. I don't see the harm in teaching the children about Thanksgiving or Columbus day with a fun coloring activity, although I do think they could stand to do a little more work on these subjects. If teachers combined both of the lesson plans above, and found a happy middle, then the children would learn much more while still having fun.