Saturday, February 11, 2012

Pictures: Your 3rd-Grader's Social Studies Text Book, a Cornucopia of Left-Wing Crackpottery

Wondering whether elementary school students are truly indoctrinated in the left wing agenda? Well, wonder no more. They are; and it's worse -- far worse -- than you can possibly imagine.

Consider, if you will, McGraw-Hill's Our Democratic Heritage, a textbook designed for third-graders and published in 2010. If you'd assume that it was intended to teach kids about America's founding and its institutions of government, you'd assume wrong.

The book is a veritable cornucopia of left wing spin.

There is but one sentence devoted to the Bill of Rights. It reads, "These rights [of citizens] are listed in the part of the U.S. Constitution called the Bill of Rights".

• Two pages cover the Declaration of Independence
• Two pages describe the Constitution, all of which are devoted to the three branches of government and separation of powers
• No pages are devoted to James Madison and the authors of the Constitution; there is no mention of federalism
• Six pages are spent describing the background of Paul Revere
• Ten pages are devoted to the history of democracy in ancient Greece.
• George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are mentioned only in passing, almost as if they are immaterial scenery on the road to diversity and social Utopia.

In the section entitled "America's Freedom Fighters":

• Eight pages are spent covering the life of Frederick Douglass
• Five pages on Susan B. Anthony
• Six pages on Mary McLeod Bethune,
• Zero pages are devoted to the life of Abraham Lincoln

In fact, the entire Civil War is described only as a backdrop to the lives of Frederick Douglas and Mary McLeod Bethune.

In the section entitled "The Fight for Freedom Continues":

• Seven pages are spent on praise for FDR (including 2 pages on Pearl Harbor)
• Six pages on Eleanor Roosevelt
• Six pages are devoted to Thurgood Marshall
• Six pages are spent on LBJ's life and the wondrous effects of "Great Society"
• Six pages are spent on Cesar Chavez and the lionization of the labor movement

There is no list of American Presidents.

There is no mention of the two-party system, nor the fact that there exists a group called "The Republican Party".

And there is no mention of a Republican President other than Abraham Lincoln, who merits but a picture and a single sentence. In fact, you would not know from reading this book that there ever was a Republican President.

A total of four paragraphs are spent describing World War II. There is no mention of President Harry S. Truman or of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan to mercifully end World War II.

There is, of course, no mention of Ronald Reagan.

One of the goals we Constitutional conservatives must have is to regain control of our public school systems, which appear to be -- if this book is any indication -- completely out of control.


33 comments:

Reliapundit said...

THE BRITS NO LONGER TEACH THEIR KIDS ABOUT CHURCHILL.

WHY?

the academy is run by folks like ayers.

there and here.

we gotta demolish the teacher unions and end the public school monopoly.

AmPowerBlog said...

It's a disgrace.

I try to counteract this in my teaching of college freshmen and sophomores, but it's hard.

Ian H. said...

Boo-freakin'-hoo! At the same time as you're busy complaining about the "Liberal-ization" of American history textbooks, Texas and other states are busy stripping science out of their biology texts in order to conform to a conservative political agenda. But I bet you have no problems with that...

Jeanne Patterson said...

Thanks a lot, Doug. Now no sleep for me tonight. Luckily my husband went to bed already but I'm stuck ranting & raving at my dogs.

VaGal said...

I have a third grader and will be checking his social studies book. It makes it a lot more difficult to learn from history when it's re-written or just flat out omitted. But that's how they want it. They can not establish their Marxist "utopia" if people learn that the concept has already failed miserably.

elsietee said...

Can someone post a link to somewhere that I can find this book? I can't find any mention of it anywhere on the web.

sTevo said...

The next addition will feature Slick Willy selling out to the Chinese and the JEF totally bankrupting the US thru social welfare and community organizing.

Anonymous said...

Acorn gets 16 pages in the new edition along with two chapters on the bwack panthers. Isn't propaganda grand? Lars

Anonymous said...

Ian,
I'm sure you know about the tu quoque fallacy? Worse, for you, is the Texans have the two best high schools in the nation. Worst for you, ID is solid science, and teaching people how to think about science is better than just stuffing them with the Edicts of Truth from the Orwellian Dept. of Education.

You're having a pretty bad day there, man.

Tennwriter

Lori said...

If most of history is left out of this book, what are they doing in class most of the year?

Jim Schofield said...

Those images appear to have been taken from a website. Could someone add a link to the origin point so we can look at the textbook ourselves and come to our own judgements, instead of accepting your slanted conservative view of the contents?

JaneLovesJesus said...

I just do not get why people are still giving their children over to the public indoctrination system.

Bones said...

Any teacher or school administrator that teaches to that book should be charged with malpractice and loose their license. Even if you don't have children, being surrounded by ignorance reduces the quality of life.

Bones said...

Any teacher or school administrator that teaches to that book should be charged with malpractice and loose their license. Even if you don't have children, being surrounded by ignorance reduces the quality of life.

Anonymous said...

I have been preaching about this since 1980. Now some schools even have the UN running them.. When are people going to wake up? Our DEMOCRATIC heritage? Our republican heritage as this is a republic!!!!

Anonymous said...

Please join Eye on the Board on Facebook and USPEIN@yahoogroups.com for support.

Kathyrn Elizabeth said...

It is a problem. However, boys don't read these books anyways. Textbooks are an ancient method of teaching almost the same as 3,000 years ago that bores boys to death.

Boys of today learn about American History on their own time via technology such as video games and the Internet. Video games have insipired boys to learn more about American History than all the teachers in school.

These textbooks have failed thier mission: The United States has the greatest armed forces in the world and we are still free...for now.

AWB said...

I cannot find contact info for you on your blog. I did link to you, but I also took the entire post, giving you credit of course and place it on my blog.

If you want it down I understand, but this was to important to just share a link.

http://www.angrywhiteboy.org/index.php/2011/09/13/holy-crap-pictures-of-a-3rd-graders-social-studies-text-book/

Regards,
AWB

Kyle B said...

Ian,

Germany doesn't teach about the Holocaust. So I guess we should be like them. Everyone knows America has to teach sciences because we are lacking. What text books have you read lately?

Kyle B said...

Ian,

Germany doesn't teach about the Holocaust. So I guess we should be like them. Everyone knows America has to teach sciences because we are lacking. What text books have you read lately?

Rob Crawford said...

Texas and other states are busy stripping science out of their biology texts in order to conform to a conservative political agenda.

You should do some research on that story. The facts aren't what you believe them to be.

D J said...

JaneLovesJesus said...
I just do not get why people are still giving their children over to the public indoctrination system.

Because they are taxed so heavily that they cannot afford private schools.

Anonymous said...

ITS SOCIAL STUDIES, NOT AMERICAN HISTORY!!!!!

Tracey said...

I am a 3rd grade teacher in Georgia, and we are given standards by our state at every grade level that we MUST teach, or we really could be sued and lose our "license" (actually it's a certification). We don't use that text book, but the pages that the blog author outlined cover GPS (Georgia Performance Standards) point by point, and in correct proportion to how they are written and given to teachers. If the public doesn't like the material that is being taught, don't blame the teachers. Educate yourself on how and why standards are created and then decide if change needs to be made. The teachers are just the messengers, bound by professional duty to teach the material our state legislates, with the materials our school systems adopt, to the students that arrive at our door every morning. Besides, education isn't limited to the confines of a classroom. A parent is a child's first and most influential teacher.

Darayvus said...

Ian H. said: "Texas and other states are busy stripping science out of their biology texts in order to conform to a conservative political agenda."

Then, Tennwriter said: "ID [Intelligent Design] is solid science, and teaching people how to think about science is better".

The next comment on the topic of ID is Rob Crawford, who just says "look up the facts" rather than doing that himself. He also didn't add any corrective to Tennwriter's observation that Texas was, in fact, trying to subvert the teaching of biology in the hope of installing the current Christian Fundamentalist alternative, ID. To date this is the only followup; Doug Ross has hidden under his desk.

On those facts, Tennwriter is right that Texas public schools are, in fact, turning into Christian madrassas on the topic. [Link to "Christian Post".] Crawford handwaved that all away.

On the merits of ID, a quick trip to talkorigins should be enough, but it won't be, for THIS crowd.

So, Tennwriter has proven Ian H. right. Conservatives really don't care about the facts. They just want Team Red doctrines to win over those of Team Blue.

I find the commenters here despicable, but I am unsurprised.

Kerry said...

Tennwriter is right that Texas public schools are, in fact, turning into Christian madrassas on the topic.<<<<Zimri

That may take the cake as the dumbest comment I have ever read on the intarwebs, and that is quite a high bar. Congratulations, Darwin worshipper.

Unknown said...

This kind of thing is now accepted. Did you see the documentary Waiting for Superman? One little girl in a poorly performing school sat listening to the lesson, as a teacher said, "The native Americans took care of the land, but when the settlers came they destroyed it," or words to that effect.

Wonder why the school is doing poorly. Indoctrination trumps learning.

ertdfg said...

Yes Zimri, Texas is awful...

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons/

8th grade breakdown, on science, 2009 year by the NAEP (governemtn) shows:

Texas - 150.46 score
National Average - 148.66

Yeah, they're doing slightly above average.. awful.

They should be like California... 138.64 would be much much better.

Oh wait, I'm sorry... numbers don't matter; it's how you FEEL about them that matter, right?

Results can't be mentioned or someone might feel bad.

(I chose 8th grade as 12th grade didn't have science numbers, and 2009 was the latest year)

I guess Texas is just awful... if we don't care about results.

If you do care about results, move to North Dakota, South Dakota, or Minnesota... they seem to do consistently well.

But that doesn't help you red/blue state argument at all. I can see why you avoided giving sourcing, links, data, or results.

Gospace said...

Who the heck is Mary McLeod Bethune? I've never heard of her.

Guess my BS in PolySci doesn't mean crap if I've never heard of her.

Derek B. said...

This (among other reasons and examples) is why my wife and I are going to home-school our children. I don't like leaving the education of my children in the hands of the government, when they can't even run the country properly.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, really?! First off, just because you believe something different than that of your brother does NOT make you a Darwin worshiper!!! And we wonder why there is so much hatred in our streets today! Because of people like all of you that simply can't get along because they can't see past their own differences! And yes, I agree with the teacher... If you don't like what is being taught in our schools then do something about it, don't just sit by your computers every night and rant and rave and carry on like you are the ones still in the 8th grade. And if you "can't afford it because of the taxes that you have to pay" then take that up with your good buddy George W. Bush!! And while we are on the subject... You better hope you're good friend Mr. Rick Santorum doesn't get elected either, because then not only are you going to have to pay a lot of taxes but you will for sure pay way too much for healthcare, then you really won't be able to save your kids from the insanity.

The one good thing I will have to say is thank God I finally found a group of educated Right Wingers, I was beginning to think they didn't exist!

C.U.F. said...

Harold says, "Who the heck is Mary McLeod Bethune? I've never heard of her.

Well sir, giving you the cliff notes, Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator & life rights activist. She was the principal founder of Bethune-Cookman University-an HBCU (I assume you don't know what that means either but you can look that up)-in FL. How does she relate to the topic at hand with regards to American history? She was appointed as a national advisor to FDR. Don't worry, your Poly-Sci degree is still intact as black history isn't regarded as anything important in this country either; as seen by that education being limited to surface-level "acknowledgement" of MLK. You're welcome.
#themoreyouknow

C.U.F. said...

Harold says, "Who the heck is Mary McLeod Bethune? I've never heard of her.

Well sir, giving you the cliff notes, Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator & life rights activist. She was the principal founder of Bethune-Cookman University-an HBCU (I assume you don't know what that means either but you can look that up)-in FL. How does she relate to the topic at hand with regards to American history? She was appointed as a national advisor to FDR. Don't worry, your Poly-Sci degree is still intact as black history isn't regarded as anything important in this country either; as seen by that education being limited to surface-level "acknowledgement" of MLK. You're welcome.
#themoreyouknow