MetaChat - It's Christopher Columbus!

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18 October 2010

It's Christopher Columbus! →[More:]Just kidding!
My kid's teacher send home an addition/coloring exercise with a black and white line tracing of that painting (including the Latin age in the background), and it was labeled Christopher Columbus. I'm desperately trying to resist the urge to send it back in with a correction (and a translation of the Latin).

That would be bad, right?

post by: jeoc at: 18:16 | 9 comments

It would? It would be helpful for the teacher to get this right. I'd just send a nice note pointing out this is the famous Hans Holbein portrait of Henry VIII. And maybe a copy of this Wikipedia page which has a posthumous "portrait" of Chistopher. (Apparently his actual appearance is still a bit of a mystery.)

posted by bearwife 18 October | 18:26

I'm flabbergasted, gobsmacked, boggled and almost speechless. It's hard to believe (although I do believe you, jeoc) that a teacher fucked up so badly. I'd definitely send in a correction and I would send it so only the teacher saw the correction so s/he won't be publicly embarrassed.

posted by deborah 18 October | 18:51

I always thought he looked like Gérard Depardieu.

posted by eatdonuts 18 October | 19:00

Holy crap.
Yeah, I'd let the teacher know. without the Latin translation :)

posted by gaspode 18 October | 19:12

That is a very famous painting and I think you should send a note to the teacher so this doesn't become a very public embarrassment to him or her.

posted by arse_hat 18 October | 23:46

Oh no! I had just talked myself out of doing anything about it. She's in the second grade, and we're in the South, so I figured I was the only one who would notice or care...

FWIW, my husband thinks she probably knows that it isn't Christopher Columbus, but she's just too disinterested/lazy to find an appropriate picture.

posted by jeoc 19 October | 07:02

she's just too disinterested/lazy to find an appropriate picture.

Isn't that worse? Show her someone cares. (My kid just started kindergarten, and I'd be pretty appalled if he came home with something like that.)

I probably wouldn't say anything about the Latin, though.

posted by fogovonslack 19 October | 14:36

Yes! That is worse!

But I also don't want to put my daughter on her radar in a negative way.

posted by jeoc 19 October | 17:09

Just be really nice. Send in some cookies with your note, thank her for all she's done for your daughter and the class, and add that she probably already noticed the problem, but you spotted this label error on this picture of a famous painting. And include the Columbus Wikipedia page.

posted by bearwife 20 October | 14:07

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