I received this email yesterday and (with permission from Sue to post) thought I would pose the question to parents, do you know what’s in your child’s school books?
Oak,
I just thought you would be interested and I want to let as many parents as possible aware of my experience. I have been a homeschooling mom mostly since my now 17 year olds were in 3rd grade. We recently moved to Springville and that combined with other circumstances led me to try public school for all my 7 kids who are of school age (I have 2 younger ones still at home.)
It has a positive experience so far in many ways but I continue to dislike common core on many levels and I have really been concerned about what is and isn’t being taught in history. So concerned that I decided to ask my 6th grade child’s teacher if I could borrow a copy of the history books he is teaching out of.
Appalled is the ONLY word I can think of to describe what I found there! It’s a world history book and the section on the US is maybe 4 pages long. It has no mention of our founding fathers but teaches abundantly about Karl Marx and his “wonderful ideas”.
The section on Christianity is a joke but the section on Islam is lengthy. It’s just ridiculous! !
Needless to say my kids will either be transferring to the local charter school that does not use common core and teaches much about our founding fathers or it’s back to homeschooling.
I think the media needs to hear about this! Just thought you’d be interested.
Thanks,
Sue Schmidt
Do you want to be a solution to problems? Speak up to teachers, principals, and your school board. I recently filed a GRAMA request with the state and in correspondence with the legal council for the Utah State Office of Education, I was told the request was going to be charged to me because they felt it was primarily of private interest instead of public since state board members had not received a single complaint on the subject of the selection of the new superintendent. I happened to know this was false but this is how things work. If you don’t speak up, those who do get more easily isolated. It reminds me of a few years ago when in the course of a single month, I was contacted by 4 separate families who went to Alpine School District to complain about Investigations math, and the very same administrator at the district office told each one of them that they were the only parent to ever complain about the math program. Each left wondering if they were the only one to speak up. Unless we all speak up about the problems and work to get our neighbors informed and to do it as well, we will continue the downward slide into government controlled curriculum and indoctrination. I am so thankful for those of you that do speak up in meetings, emails, and phone calls. Please keep pressing forward.
It’s my opinion that charters have shown a grand superiority compared to Alpine SD, but it is important to understand that charters are also public. The answer to combating the Common core is NOT to simply send your kids to a charter. The Common Core’s hand reaches further than Alpine, it will effect all levels of schooling. The Common Core DOES effect charters! More and More I see charters taking money from the hands of national programs. If the Common Core is not stopped now it will infiltrate all levels of education.
Also, just to clarify since I didn’t above, this situation is not driven by Common Core. The state hasn’t adopted CC standards. This was a school choice to bring these textbooks in. The purpose of this post is merely to alert parents to be involved in all aspects of their children’s education and don’t blindly trust others to pick appropriate materials for your child.
It’s everywhere now. All but one of my 5 children attend a charter school and has adopted Common Core. When I brought it up to them, they told me they were forced to use it because they’re government funded. I was originally going to look into private schooling, but we can’t run away from it, it’s everywhere. We have to fight it. In the meantime, I will try dual enrollment for certain subjects or homeschool altogether until they encroach on it. Hopefully it won’t get that far.
charter schools are common core too. If you want your kids to learn the constitution you have to go to American Heritage or a kinder school.
Or homeschool.
Also try classical education. There are about 200 schools in the US.
The catholic archdiocese in philadelphia has chosen to adapt common core to my horror. I have seen these text books at our privat catholic school and concur with sue about these text books. Appalling!! Common core is being pushed by govt program blue ribbon schools, intermediate units and accredditation groups to private and catholic. Carrot and stick. Surprising that so many teachers and administrators can be bought and or look the other way. More disturbing is that there are those teachers who love this marx stuff and hate america. I know some.
Look on youtube for the teachers pushing marx video
Common core or not the anti- american curriculum is epidemic and needs to be exposed and eliminated. parents need to read it, unite and fight it.
Even books that come highly recommended by more conservative people may have surprises in them. My kids’ charter school uses “The History of US” by Joy Hakim, which even comes recommended by homeschool reviews. I spent some time working with part of the class on the history of Jamestown, and what upset at what I found.
There were two very different groups who helped found Jamestown- the first group, made mostly of men and boys, who were there as an investment of a private company in England. The book portrayed them as greedy and destructive- the way they portray capitalism. The other main group, the Pilgrims, at first struggled but then succeeded. The book does not give the details of what changed, just that they ‘came together’, implying communism. The reverse is true. They had originally signed a contract that required them to live communally, but discovered that would not work. Once they switched to capitalism- each person could earn/own land and earn his own keep- they worked harder and prospered. Even this supposedly conservative book that dares to mention God as a factor, still teaches our children to think capitalism is evil and selfish and that communism or at least socialism is good and generous. Talk about calling evil good, and good evil.