forgettable 4th grade?

last week, minjue and i were in the car talking about going to the museum of tolerance on MLK monday. somehow, we got on the topic of her time in germany when her dad was a visiting professor. she mentioned that they'd learned about the holocaust in school, which led me to ask her what grade she was in during those six months. she said she was in 2nd grade, her younger brother wasn't yet old enough for school, and her older brother was in 4th grade. she also said that they didn't like school so their parents let them stay at home for the time they were there. minjue said that she didn't miss much in terms of education and i agreed because 2nd grade is basically 1st grade redone with more words and slightly bigger numbers.

as for her older brother, this is what she had to say:

mj: what do you learn in 4th grade? nothing!
me: uh...you know i teach 4th grade, right?
mj: ack!!! (she continued to freak out...)
me: ahahahaha

i don't know what 4th grade is like in virginia, but californian 4th graders have to learn a lot. (i must justify my job somehow...) they learn algebra in the form of linear equations (y=mx+b). they learn all about california history (with a social justice agenda where we de-emphasize the "cool" factor of missions and focus on the atrocities done to the native peoples). they learn to write expository research reports, persuasive letters, literary analysis, and narratives. they learn to analyze literature (themes, symbolism, foreshadowing, etc) and SAT vocabulary. ok, they don't actually learn SAT vocabulary, but i use it to expose them to more vocabulary. darn it, my kids learn a lot...i think... to be fair, i think kids today are expected to learn more much sooner than when i was in school.