Teaching the Facts

So, in my Wednesday multimedia class with my 6 year olds, there is a workbook page called “Who’s Money?” They love this class because it uses a big interactive touch screen. My kids are learning about different countries’ flags and their greetings. For example, whenever someone from Kenya comes on the screen, the kids say, “I’m from Kenya. Jambo! Welcome to Kenya.” So on this day, they are matching the country to its currency. Simple enough. But this page is set up so that they click on 3 pictures: Picture one has a kid with a speech bubble saying, “In Korea,” or “In America.” And in this set of pictures the kids are buying something. Picture 2 simply shows the kids enjoying whatever they purchased. Then Picture 3 is an image of the currency for each country. The goal is to match the country to the currency, right?

In Korea, the kids are buying mandu, which is a small boiled or fried dough filled with meat or veggies or kimchi. In picture 2, the Korean kids are eating their tiny mandu with chopsticks. Of course, this is matched with the Korean won.

In France, the miniature Frenchman is buying art supplies. In Picture 2, he is on the banks of the Seine in Paris, painting a picture. This is matched with the Euro.

In Japan, the kids are purchasing Hello Kitty toys. In Picture 2, they are sitting down playing with their kitties. This is matched with Japanese Yen.

In China, the kids are buying toys. Picture 2, they are playing with the toys…. blah blah, you get the picture.

Now for the illumination:
In America, the two children are buying really large hamburgers across a fast food counter. In Picture 2, the two kids have very chubby faces and one of them has his mouth open really wide and is attempting to shove his double-stacked burger into it. The other kid (with a fat face as well) is just smiling happily at his burger. This is, inevitably matched with the US Dollar.

This is how the world views America. This is also how 5 young Korean boys view America. If you didn’t know, now you know.