When I was growing up in Mississippi, we studied Mississippi state history exactly twice. We did a unit in the spring of 5th grade year, where we had to assemble a booklet about the state. And we had to take a semester course on Mississippi history in the 8th grade. I had THE WORST teacher ever for my 8th grade course of MS History - he was a junior high girls basketball coach, and teaching was his side job. I'm pretty horrified at the thought that's he's a headmaster of a small private school in the Delta now....
But back on topic. In TEXAS, they start in on the state history in preschool. That's right, PRESCHOOL. My kids first studied the state as 3 year olds, and they have studied it every year since then. 1 week in preschool where they learned all the state symbols and had a Texas rodeo at the end of the week. 1 week in kindergarten and 1st grade, 2 weeks in 2nd and 3rd grades, and Cameron says "like a month" in 4th grade. She's currently doing a homework project - a study of Stephen F. Austin. She was asking me how much I had studied Mississippi history, and I told her - not nearly as much as you've had to study the great state of Texas.
They fly the Texas flag here everywhere. Some places even omit the USA flag and fly just the Texas one. The bigger, the better, too. People drive around with "Native Texan" stickers in their car windows.
We've lived here almost 8 years now, and I just don't get the whole Texas pride thing. But the more my kids are required to study it every single year in school, the more I understand just where it comes from. It's still a bit odd and off-puttin', though.
3 comments:
I think Texas still thinks of itself as a country instead of just a state.
It's kind of like the rest of us studying American History.
Don't Mess With Texas!
All I could hear as I read your post was the slogan, "Texas - It's like a whole other country."
If you somehow missed it, they are still using it at traveltex.com...
http://www.traveltex.com/Index.aspx
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