Texas approved these elementary
Social Studies series for local adoption in 1997. They rank below in descending
order of acceptability (from best to worst) based on the consensus of citizens
who reviewed them.
Adventures in Time and Place ( Macmillan, 1997 ) — We the People ( Houghton Mifflin, 1997 ) — Silver Burdett Social Studies ( Silver Burdett, 1997 ) — Stories in Time ( Harcourt Brace, 1997 )
We can furnish:
for each series, short reviews from Texas state textbook committee testimony.
a thorough review of the bottom-ranked Harcourt 5th grade U.S. History text, documenting its politically
correct editorial bias (41 pages).
We recommend adoption of Macmillan's elementary Social Studies series because:
Most patriotic of the four series,
its 3rd grade text features both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington
in 6-page lessons. American History topics fill 89 pages of Macmillan's 3rd
grade book compared to Harcourt's 36.
In 4th grade, Macmillan's Texas History's excellent 5 pages on the Battle
of the Alamo dwarfs Silver Burdett's one half page. Only Macmillan's among
the 5th grade texts, includes Booker T. Washington's work at Tuskegee and
quotes Phyllis Schlafly.
Macmillan's 6th grade World History text extensively covers the rise of Judaism
and Christianity. It quotes all 10 Commandments, Jesus in the temple at age
12, and the sermon on the Mount. It contains references to Paul, Cornelius,
Lydia, and Onesimus. Coverage of other religions is comparable.
Why is the Harcourt Brace series last?
The Harcourt Brace Social Studies
series thrusts first, second, and third graders into social activism without
presenting conflicting positions on such controversial issues as the homeless
and pollution, and long before such young children can draw their own
conclusions.
The 3rd grade Harcourt text devotes a 6-page lesson to South Africa's government,
including a full page on their president, but gives George Washington only
a few short lines and a smaller picture.
In its 6th grade World History text, only Harcourt among the four publishers
censors the basic doctrine of Christianity, the resurrection of Christ.