How to boost DD's confidence in her teacher.

[piprabbit]

DD is in Y2 and has caught her teacher out in silly mistakes over the last couple of weeks. First the teacher told her that there is no such word as geode, even though DD could describe what it is. Then the teacher told her that the Middle East is a continent (and Antarctica isn't).

DD spotted both these herself and is feeling a) hard done by that she has been disbelieved and b) a bit about her teacher's abilities.

I've told her that everyone can make mistakes sometimes and that it doesn't mean that her teacher isn't very knowledgable. DD looks a little sceptical.

How can I rebuild DD's trust in her teacher.

Many thanks.

It's only a few more weeks to the end of the year And they'll start to do less and less formal work as the year progresses (sports day, school play, school trip....)

For some reason I find this very funny. When in reality it is very sad.

If her teacher thanks that the Middle East is a continent - I'm not sure your DD should have confidence in her.

You'll just have to teach her to 'respect authority' instead :)

My parents were teachers and they were always very open about the fact that not all teachers were to be considered the fount of knowledge. They still managed to make it perfectly clear that I had to behave. I've tried to do the same for my children, basically make them see that their teachers are human beings and that even if they are not all perfect you still can't hurt somebody's feelings or be rude. But as long as children are kind and polite, an attitude of questioning scepticism seems no bad thing to me; for one thing, it makes them do more work checking up on what they are taught.

Thanks everyone. I like the idea of using it as a reason for her to do her own research .