Child's Story of America concerns

[sharonb]

Hi everyone! We are in Unit 11 of Beyond, and really enjoying it. I'm already starting to look ahead to next year (for budgeting purposes). My oldest 3 children will be in Bigger, with the oldest 2 using extensions. I was reading reviews of A Child's Story of America at Amazon, and some serious concerns were raised about topics covered later in the book (Clinton's behavior, for example). I read in another thread here that those pages aren't even scheduled, but doesn't anyone worry about their child reading the whole book on their own (even if you tell them not to)? I don't want one of our history books to introduce my dc to topics that we aren't ready to discuss. Happily, they are still quite naive.

The Amazon reviewers also talked about the book's treatment of Native Americans and slaves. I realize every history book will have a slant, but is it really as bad as they are making it sound? (I'm thinking not, since Carrie picked it to be a part of HOD!)

Anyway, is anyone else concerned about books containing content that you don't wish for your dc to read yet, even if it's not scheduled in the guide?

[daybreaking]

I'm wondering if you meant a different book? On Amazon, all of CHOW's reviews are 5 star. I'm thinking you might have been asking about CLP's "A Child's Story of America" which does cover the Clinton saga. Either way, if I have a book that I consider an excellent reference, but that contains some material I prefer to keep from my children, I keep that book separate from our normal "available anytime" type of books and only pull it out when I am directly using it with my children. That way, I reap the benefits of the resource, while also protecting my children. HTH

[sharonb]

Yes, I meant A Child's Story of America. Obviously my brain isn't working correctly today. I will edit my original post!

[beverett]

I am (and I know Carrie is) very careful in what I teach my kiddos... and in my opinion there was nothing that I remember having to leave out or edit or even that we shouldn't be discussing when we did Bigger this last year (though it has been a while ). I do know for a fact that we never covered Clinton so those pages were never scheduled in the guide to read. I agree with daybreaking though, if I am not sure if they would find something they should not with out my supervision, then I would keep separately from the other books.

[countrymom]

This thread might help you.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5467&p=40060&hilit= ... ica#p40060
I have found the reviews on Amazon to be a 2-edged sword. Sometimes they are very helpful to me and sometimes I find I don't agree with them at all once I read the book. I was disappointed with the reviews I had read a couple of years ago about "Stories of the Pilgrims" but I was very pleased with the book when I actually used it. I do find from time to time that I will initiate a discussion with my child to further discuss something when reading any book. I agree with the pp that I would not keep the book with your regular books.

[sharonb]

Thanks for the responses. I will go ahead and use the book as scheduled in the extensions, but I'll make sure the book isn't kept on the "free to read anytime" bookcase.

[Heart_Mom]

I don't do this often, but I've been known to remove pages or black out words from books if I think something is not appropriate for my children. If you were concerned about a certain section, you could always do something like that.

[blessedmama]

When we first started reading "A Child's History of the World" the first assignment was to read the second chapter. My daughter, being an overachiever, went ahead and read the first chapter as well. Well the first chapter was about evolution. My daughter got done reading the assignment and said, "Mom, this has evolution in it." I had told her that she read pages that were not assigned and that they were not assigned for that reason. At least she knew that is was wrong and we used it as a teaching moment. We reminded her that not all books are 100% accurate...the only book that is 100% accurate is God's Word, the Bible.

[Carrie]

Ladies,

Just to avoid confusion, I'll mention that the book that we're discussing in this particular thread iis A Child's Story of America, which is a different book than A Child's History of the World. A Child's History of the World is the 1920's text in which the first several chapters are skipped. The explanation for our choosing A Child's History of the World is here: http://www.heartofdakota.com/preparing- ... hild-world
That book is used in Preparing Hearts for His Glory in conjunction with Grandpa's Box: The Biblical Story of Redemption.

The original poster intended to discuss A Child's Story of America which is used in the Extension Pack in Bigger Hearts. I'll paste my thinking on that particular book below, from the thread linked earlier in this thread.

A Child's Story of America is a reprint of an older text which was updated in its wording and to include some additional content by Christian Liberty Press. It is mainly the end section of the book that we feel goes into material that is better left to discuss at a later date with your kiddos, especially the mention of Bill Clinton's infidelity. We do omit these final pages and note that you will want to use your own discretion when deciding whether to use the end pages (as they are not scheduled within our guide). It is also important to note that for this reason this text is not used as the spine or core of our program but rather is used as an extension.

We chose this text for the Extension Pack because it serves the purpose of presenting the other side of American history that is rarely told within most secular history texts. It strives to provide a conservative, Godly perspective of American history (that is readable by 4th and 5th graders) without going overboard in its providential slant.

It's important to remember that all texts have a bias, and all interpretations of a text are subject to our own bias as we read them. This is good to bear in mind when weighing the opinion's of others. The only truly perfect book is God's word! With that being said, this particular text has been distinguished through many excellent homeschool reviews. Cathy Duffy reviews this particular book highly on her website linked here: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/history-ge ... merica.htm

While I could list multiple other positive reviews of this book from other homeschool reviewers, the only true opinion that matters for your family is your own as you seek to follow God's call within your own home. So, if this particular text does not suit YOUR family, you can easily choose not to use it without affecting the flow of the program.

There was a discussion on the board at one point about A Child's Story of America, which was a very well thought out discussion among our board members, until it took a less than Christ-centered turn in its tone. The thread had to be removed when it left no Christian way for us, or anyone else, to respond further. A post was made on the board explaining our reasons for removal of the thread, as this is something we don't usually do.

I agree that it's a good idea to read through the text and see what your feelings about it may be, however keep in mind that we schedule it in conjunction with the Eggleston books and the other Extension Pack books (in order to provide a more balanced approach to history). We would not schedule this book to be used without other resources.

It is also not meant to be an exhaustive history (but it works well when paired with Eggleston and our other Extension Pack books to provide more information on what the kiddos are studying). The book sometimes slides into the category of not always being politically correct (as it has its origins in a much older text). My husband and I had some excellent discussions about it, as we'd never had anything but a secularized, sanitized version of American history prior to this.

Blessings,
Carrie