Had this been a classroom of middle school children, I would have had no problem with her getting into the roots and origins of “Santa”, but there are some things you just DON’T do with children and one of those is tell them that their hopes and dreams are worthless.

Case in point, my four year old daughter believes Mickey Mouse is REAL, would you care to join me in telling her that it’s all smoke and mirrors and that giant “mouse” she’s going to visit in March is just some underpaid teenager with bad acne? NO, I’m going to let her find out on her own, because that is part of GROWING UP, not the job of some blowhard, who thinks it is their responsibility to tell every munchkin they can, that the magic and splendor they are so built up and pumped up on, is BS.

I’m done.

Clearly the sub taught the lesson in accordance with the lesson plan. Nothing that you have stated or that was contained in the article indicates otherwise.

Of course, my previous response in no way suggested “educational lesson plans, when left in the hands of ’stand in’ educators, are to be taken with a grain of salt[.]” Then again, this question has little resemblance to your first comment about lesson plans “open for interpretation.”

There is more than one way to implement a lesson plan. The goal is to get through the work and each teacher has his or her own way of interpretating the best way to teach said lesson plans.

It was wrong for her to tell her students this because it was not her place.

First, so what if it’s a “lie”, tell me, with a straight face that you tell your children the whole truth and nothing but the whole truth 100% of the time no matter what the question.

Second, did it REALLY have ANY detrimental effect on who you are as an adult. Not once, upon coming to the realization that the big man was non-existant, did I feel betrayed by my parents. Heck they still play “Santa” to this day… why? Because it’s fun. Not everything in this world needs to have such a serious undertone to it. Lighten up, and live a little.

Mr. McDonald, so what you’re saying is that educational lesson plans, when left in the hands of ’stand in’ educators, are to be taken with a grain of salt? I can personally say that I know of two times when I was in grade school, that an administrator had to replace a sub, due to a lack of attention to set lesson plans, and once had to escort one out of the building because they were incapable of handling children.

I know that if I were in the teachers position, and had set forth a lesson plan for a sub, only to find out that it was ignored, and on top of that, sent my children home devastated and crying… I would make it my job to make sure they never worked at my school again, and work to make sure their meager paycheck was at the very least reduced to an amount that would let them think twice about their personal convictions before interjecting them into a FIRST GRADE classroom.

Oh and no, I wouldn’t “go ballistic” if a little Jewish kid ran his mouth, he’s a kid and they tend to do things like that. You would expect an adult to know better.

Either way… telling a child that someone they may have emotional ties with is dead is just plain mean. And I do agree that even if she stated Santa Claus is based upon a man who is dead therefore he’s a myth… all the kids heard was that Santa is dead.

A thought; my 14 year old son told me the same thing I thought when I was his age. He tells me he will not encourage his future kids to believe in Santa Claus because he doesn’t want to lie to them and thus possibly hurt a strong relationship he could have with them. I felt the same way… how dare my mother lie to me about a man who comes into my house and leaves presents and yet strangers are bad.

What happened? Well… I grew up and had a son and couldn’t possibly not let him believe in Santa because of 1: my mother who kept asking him what he wanted Santa to bring and 2: the TV 3: the kids at school and 4: every other form of media or personal relations that made it impossible for me to NOT have Santa in my life. The fact is… society forced me to lie to my son.

Okay… so no one forced me, it’s true. But the point is I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. In one hand I’m a liar… in the other… well… I’m a liar.

The sub did her job. There is nothing to substantiate your statement that the lesson plan was not “open for interpretation.” Lesson plans don’t normally contain directions, such as this is not “open for interpretation.” If the message was so important and the mythology of Santa Claus to be preserved then the teacher would have not missed teaching such an “important lesson.”

Do you go ballistic when little Jewish kids ruin the Santa Claus myth?

That is my right as a parent, as their parent, I can tell them about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny or whatever else I feel I need to teach them about.

The state has ZERO say in what I teach my child as long as those lessons do not bring harm to anyone else. If the state has no say in my religious, or ceremonial teachings within my household, then they also have ZERO rights to tell my child otherwise.

This woman had a job to do, and she failed. There should be no further employment for her in that school system, nor should she be paid for her services (or lack thereof) for that day. As psy_guy stated prior to your comment, as a substitute teacher you have ONE job, and one job only. Teach what is planned. NOWHERE did it state that the lesson plan was “open for interpretation” by the temporary replacement. It is not her place to dictate what is not set forth by the teacher, so she is WRONG to do so.

Besides, children of the ages of 5 and 6 can be easily reprogrammed by their parents to believe that Santa exists regardless of what was said, and what was heard. A trip to the local shopping mall and a photograph on Santa’s lap heals all such wounds.

As a teacher I have to say that this substitute stepped over ONE line, and that is enough to dismiss her.

What line did she cross? The lessons generated in PA, as well as where I teach in Texas, are dictated by the state’s approved curriculum. This individual lesson was taken directly from the same state’s approved curriculum. The substitute was placed in the classroom to teach the lesson left by the teacher, and only that lesson. The decision to inject her personal opinion and turn the lesson into her own personal pulpit show an extreme lack of professionalism and tact.

All teachers are required to submit a “substitute plan” or “folder” at the beginning of the year for occasions that they miss without any notice (sickness, emergency, etc.). This case involved a detailed lesson left by the teacher for the absence, and should have been followed, to the letter, by the substitute. Any deviation from this lesson plan is unacceptable and only reinforces the belief that most substitutes are nothing more than babysitters.

If I were the teacher in this classroom I would definitely be upset by an outsider coming in with their little agenda and using my absence as an opportunity to “mold the minds of our young.” Where did this substitute get their training? Did they attend a university to study education? Did they even attend college more than the meager requirements for substitute teachers? Lastly, I’d like to know who this person thinks she is to alter a lesson-plan that was created for students during one of the most difficult and stressful time for students and teachers alike…the week before Christmas break?!?

On a personal note, I’m of the opinion that many people who find nothing wrong with exposing children to the truth like this don’t have children of their own. I can’t speak for the people who have commented here, but as a parent there is nothing more joyful than to see my children’s eyes light up at even the mention of Santa. To imagine that some substitute feels it is her responsibility to undermine my own parenting choices…well, I’d be seeing red.

It’s important not to confuse the issues here. This substitute should not be allowed into a classroom again, and the reason for this is she did not follow the teacher’s instructions on the lesson. That’s it. The other issue of people not liking the religious symbols and ideology of Christmas vs. the people who wish to continue the tradition doesn’t apply, even if we think it does.

I know, just as much as the next person, that there is no ‘Jolly Fat Man’ in a red suit that breaks into my house once a year to leave me gifts. Santa Clause is a derivation of a tale of Saint Nicholas and while the person himself has been gone for a very long time, his spirit remains in the tale of Santa Claus. YES, his visage has been commercialized beyond recognition, but the basis for his existence still exists in my book. Santa may not be REAL, but when I woke to my daughters excited cries from the living room, he was, if only in spirit.

Ignore “Santa” for a moment and answer me this… if your child had an invisible friend that you knew for a fact 100%, DID NOT exist… would you rip this ‘fantasy’ from them in the name of rationally well-adjusted individualism? I sure as hell wouldn’t.