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» Terrie_Bittner - We were discussing this in my college history class last night,

We were discussing this in my college history class last night, in terms of all the inaccuracies surrounding Columbus. I homeschool, but someone gave me the book the local high school uses. Not only does it present Columbus as a hero, with no mention of his cruelty, but it still says he was trying to prove the world was round! Our instructor said that no one in the lower levels care if children learn history. The point of teaching history is to teach patriotism, so nothing bad can creep into the story. It's happy history. A good book on this subject is Lies My American History Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. He says that when an author is hired to write a history book, he isn't given primary texts. He is given a stack of current history books and told to use those as research. It's like the game of Telephone. If one error creeps into a book, it will be repeated forever. The more editions they make, the more errors creep in. I won't use junior or senior high books for history. We're using my college text and what I learn in my night class.

-- posted by Terrie_Bittner

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» galomorro - Great site!

I have been having a lot of fun exploring this site and the links. Thanks. I'm interested in education via computer software and on the Web, especially basic, no-frills tutorials on various subjects. I would also like to see elementary through college textbooks made more available to ordinary folks in regular bookstores and online stores. I found some good textbook online sites recently but upon checking them out, NONE of them took personal checks (I do not have a credit card). Keep up the good work.

-- posted by galomorro

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