My kids' textbooks *SUCK*

I obviously don't know what I would think of the textbooks I used at their age, were I to see them again as an adult. But I can say without a doubt that these are crap.

In one history book, there was a practice question asking what is the reason for ... something. Can't remember what. And in the paragraph where that was discussed, it actually said that different historians disagree with the reason for it. But the question -- and the teacher's answer guide -- would admit only one "right" answer.

That's just the clearly-wrong thing I remember. The rest of it is such a disconnected spew of random facts that even I can't make any sense of it. And I consider myself pretty good at getting information from the printed word.

All these books teach them is how to memorize random facts and regurgitate them on command, or how to look up facts in a book ... with the page the answer is on listed in the question ... and the name they're looking up already highlighted in the text.

And we only get One set of those (experiences.) No wonder there is so much palaver about trying to create a rilly Keen methodology. Even that is a chimera; as theTexas Syndrome makes apparent: there is Always a layer of propaganda - which the 'adults' fight over -- behind every single 'text'book.

As I (try-to) recall ~~ the timnes of learning words, language, Reading! [HEY!! I Can READ..!] I'm not aware of an example (I can now see) of overt-propaganda of a political slant. Mainly, in retrospect, I though that most of the 'stories' read by teacher were See Jane Run too-simple. But (for being in a private 'military' academy, thus iggerant of public school versions) I recall vividy a few 'helpers' which I was able to USE and recall being aware of that 'fact':

1) There was a large (easel stand) list of words; pages of this display began IIRC at 5-letter-common words; as the teacher would periodically flip to the next page, the words grew longer. I don't recall how often the pages were turned; maybe not even daily. But I devoured the pages, time-sharing with the planned stuff; an excellent way of tuning-out the silly stuff: grok some of those words to Fullness

2) Later on (even I noticed) -- that while the Dick & Jane fodder was being read (or read-to), as I would skip forward and read real *Stories, and likely was noticed doing-so: this wise teacher never 'corrected' my inattention to the pabulum. Still.. neither did she give/lend me anything better than the Reader. I give her a wash on the wisdom-scale.

* memorable one by Jack London, To Build a Fire -- man on sled gets wet; has (a few) matches. TIME-to-freeze is of the essence.. Cliffhanger as fumbles and lack of burnabvle stuff rear ugly heads. Gotta **reread that one.)

3) Classes were tiny by any recent decades' standards; 9-12? (We Don't Notice! much detail each day -- even then..) {sigh} The rote instilling of multiplication tables was probably the only effective means -- But I recall no over-reliance on rote re. the rest of the material.

** Ahh.. it's right here:
http://www.jacklondo...t/buildafire.html

(And, for cosmic humor: Jack London's place is just down the road. A friend was married to one of the descendants. Etc.)

No, I don't know the ~~Perfect scheme either, but I have lots of vicarious experience of the increasing Imperfection, despite legions of experts (they perpetually confounded by Legions of My Gramma.) The troglodytes are now enabled and emboldened beyond Gramma's wildest dreams of purgatory ... for all Not-Like-Her (chosen oracles.)

Techno + the How-To mastery of Paul Joseph Göbbels' seminal techniques have provided them the megaphones AND content-schema to inculcate their duelling-dogmas and their basically nasty, misanthropic Puritannical virii -- more repetitively and insidiously than ever before.

Did I mention, we're DOOMED?

Welcome to IWETHEY!