Thrice Blessed
- Reviewed on Tuesday, March 16, 2010
- Grades Used: 4th
- Dates used: 1999 and 2010
This book is okay. My one problem with it is the chapter on Native Americans. I am a christian, and I do understand that the Natives were not Christians, and that as Christians, we believe we should share the gospel with non-Christians. However, I don't think it is right to depict the Native Americans as savages, nor to state that they were crueler to each other than the white men were to them. From what we all know of History, the white man was crueler to Native Americans than anyone else could have been, and many (not all) of the tribes were peaceful. I think the author would have been wise to come at the subject more from the stance that in all races there is sin, we are all sinners, the natives were sinners and so were the whites. Then Natives were not "more sinful", and the whites "less sinful".
I read that chapter, but "edit" as I read it to my children. I also balance it with more positive portrayals of Natives.
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Valerie Vaughan
- Reviewed on Saturday, November 07, 2009
- Grades Used: 6th
- Dates used: October, 2009
I purchased this book upon the recommendation of another home-school mom. I was searching for a history text, written in narrative form, to make the subject more interesting for my daughter. After reading the first few chapters, and as a former journalist, I was appalled by how the book was written. The phrasing was poor, but that wasn't the half of it! The text itself was biased and condescending.
Case in point: (This passage is found in Chapter 6: The Story of the Native Americans:)
"Although it is true that Native Americans were often treated badly by the European settlers, they treated one another worse than the settlers ever did. When they took a prisoner,, they would tie him to a tree and build a fire around him and burn him to death. While he was burning they would torture him all they could. We cannot feel so much pity for the Native Americans when we think of all this."
I know that history is HIS-STORY, and can sometimes be skewed by the story teller, but this kind of divisive language is intolerable. I'm afraid a child may read this and believe the violence the Native Americans experienced, both then and now is acceptable and justified.
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE!
I'll stick to my dry, "just the facts", history book from now on.
I'm sending it back. I didn't even let my daughter look at it!
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lonnajoe
- Reviewed on Friday, February 01, 2008
- Grades Used: K and 2nd
- Dates used: 2007
I was excited about this book, but like others said it is written in a weird story way. My chidlren do not like to listen to it, but I do like to read it. There are some big problems I have with it though. I am a history major, and while I know this is very basic, it leaves out a lot of important, basic information. I have ended up outlining every chapter and adding more complete info in order to teach in to my children. It does give a good basis for the info though. In the first three chapters I have found that while it mentions the Roanoke Colony it never gives its name. It has a map of Coronado's journey but does not mention it. It touches on the William Bradford but instead focuses more on Miles Standish. I am going to use this as a basis, but it will take a lot of outside work added in to teach this.
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rjvarblow
- Reviewed on Friday, April 13, 2007
- Grades Used: 1st and 2nd
- Dates used: 2005-2006
We really did not like this curriculum. This book lasted only about a month in our house. It's not often that I abandon a curriculum that we bought new.
We did not like the style that it was written in. It is written with a clear narrator talking you through the events in U.S. History. The narrator talks down to the child and shares his/her personal opinion throughout the book. They share a advanced bit of history but then counter that with their syrupy manner.
Our children were a bit younger than those targeted for this book, but I cannot imagine putting an older child through this. The style is very wordy. The authors clearly tried to make it a story more than a textbook, but those attempts fell flat. The writing style is really bad. If you consider purchasing this book be sure to read several chapters beforehand so that you will know what kind of writing to expect. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
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