My kids all go to Catholic school. This is a new school and I haven’t completely made up my mind about it. I loved our parish school which was closed down last year due to lack of children. I see many good things about the new school. But this perturbed me a bit.
My seventh grade daughter has been assigned to read a book called “Jefferson’s Sons” which is all about Thomas Jefferson’s alleged affair with a slave girl which produced children. I asked her why this was an important book to read and she said her teacher didn’t explain why. I asked her if she’d ever been assigned to read The Declaration of Independence by this teacher or any other. She said she had not. Now, I’ve gone over the Declaration with my kids but the school hadn’t.
Isn’t it more than a little bizarre that these kids haven’t even been assigned to read the Declaration of Independence but they’re assigned to read about the alleged moral failings of one of our country’s founding fathers.
Maybe I’m overreacting. What do you guys think?
April 12, 2013 at 12:53 pm
My daughter's 8th grade Religion teacher wanted to show the movie Mississippi Burning to her class for African American History month. I stronly objected; not ony to the R rsted content, but to the fact that she was showing a fictionalized movie as fact. I suggested she at least show A Murder in Mississippi (a made for Television account of the deaths of the three boys) or at best since this was a Catholic School she might consider focusing on the Catholic response totAfrican Americans by showing a video about St. katherine Drexel or Sr. Thea Bowman. I did all of this in a mass email to the 8th grade parents, the principal and Fr. In the end she showed A murder in Mississippi. I think this teacher's biggest problem was a severe lack of imagination. The entire year was a waste of time educationally.
April 12, 2013 at 1:25 pm
You're not overreacting; that's not appropriate for a seventh grader. It's typical left-leaning make-the-founders-look bad stuff. This is why we finally threw in the towel (our kids had been in our parish school) and started homeschooling. The curriculum rot is *everywhere*.
April 12, 2013 at 1:36 pm
All other considerations aside, I think 7th grade is much too young to read such material.
April 12, 2013 at 1:46 pm
It's inappropriate, at best, and may be a blatant propaganda piece. In 7th grade, there are more important issues to be studying, and I would be ripping the teacher and the principal over this.
April 12, 2013 at 1:47 pm
Seems to me to be the sort of thing that, at best, ought to be a footnote in a history class discussion of Jefferson's legacy. Discussion of Jefferson's presidency? Of course. Discussion of the 3 things for which Jefferson wanted to be remembered: (1) the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, (2) the Declaration of Independence, and (3) the University of Virginia? Definitely. Discussion of the tragic irony that the man who wrote "all men are created equal" was also a life-long slaveholder who held his fellow man in bondage and even sold slaves to pay off his debts (something that was considered "ungentlemanly" even by fellow slaveholders)? Absolutely.
But an assigned book that presents as fact a sexual liaison that has never been proven? My kids will be 12-years-old when they are in 7th grade, and I'm not sure I'd find that particular book an appropriate or worthwhile focus of a study of Jefferson's life and legacy. Again, maybe a brief footnote that mentions the controversy, but that's it. There's so much more about Jefferson's life that is more relevant, albeit not as "sexy" as stories of alleged illicit relations with his deceased wife's enslaved half-sister.
April 12, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Out of curiosity, is this an assignment for history (or social studies) or English? And is the whole class reading this book together? Or is it one on a list of books that she could've chosen from?
April 12, 2013 at 2:09 pm
This assignment is inappropriate whether it is given in a Catholic school or a public school. I thought about sending my children to the local Catholic high school when we moved to Northern Virginia a dozen years ago. The Diocese is known for orthodoxy. But it was clear that Catholic identity was not part of the emphasis at the local Catholic high schools so we save the tuition costs and sent them to public schools. I spent a great deal of time correcting and unteaching what they heard at their public school. Things like animal life and human life are of equal worth. Or Catholics worship saints as the supposedly Catholic teacher told the class during the study of a John Steinbeck novel. Or natural family planning is the same as the rhythm method and is completely unreliable for avoiding pregnancy. At least I knew going in that the school was going to be contrary to Catholic principles so I could prepare my kids. They learned math, science, and English, and then moved on. It is harder when they are at a school that calls itself Catholic and you have to point out the errors. One of the local Catholic high schools just made international news because they expelled a girl for texting a topless picture of herself to a boy. (The boy requested the picture). The boy then forwarded the text to the entire lacrosse team. The school did nothing to the boys because they considered the boys victims of sexual harassment. The only Catholic high school I would consider in our Diocese is the new one that is run by the Nashville Dominicans. It is authentically Catholic. The others are just secular prep schools with crucifixes on the walls.
April 12, 2013 at 2:18 pm
"I too am tired of playing games with my Catholic school so next year we are giving home schooling with Seton a try."
I use Seton with my son who is in kindergarten this year. It is very solid. I do supplement a lot because it can be dry. But the content is quality and it is extremely easy to use. My son has done wonderfully with it.
As far as this book goes, not appropriate for a 7th grader. At. All. I would not be comfortable with my child reading a fictional account of events that are not even known to have happened. I know historians have long speculated that Jefferson had some kind of relationship with a slave but to my knowledge that's never been proven and I have read recently that the evidence is against that theory. I have no problem with the flaws of our Founders being pointed out to an older child who is capable of distinguishing between who they were and the intent behind the founding documents. Those are perfectly, legitimate discussions to have. But it has always seemed to me that the motive for pushing their flaws so hard in schools is an attempt to undermine the founding itself and I have a huge problem with that.
April 12, 2013 at 2:46 pm
First, I like Seton, but as an alternative for home school curriculum check out Catholic Heritage Curriculum. I like them a little better.
Second, I wanted to say that not all the Founding Fathers were anti-Catholic. George Washington gave his good friend Col. Fitzpatrick his first donation to start the FIRST Catholic Parish, St. Mary's in Alexandria, in Virginia. It was illegal to be Catholic in VA before the Revolutionary War. So all things being equal, The Founding Fathers at least gave us that.
April 12, 2013 at 2:57 pm
This corruption of school syllabus for ideological purposes has been widespread for decades. The detraction or defaming of famous figures particularly historical heroes is part of this. It's about destroying social mores and acceptance of objective morality. This makes children when they grow up more likely to accept unjust and immoral laws and policies of Government and make them unable to fight them.
April 12, 2013 at 2:59 pm
"I spent a great deal of time correcting and unteaching what they heard at their public school."
Unfortunately, you may have to do a lot of this in Catholic schools as well. The teacher may not be aware of his/her bias. If they are the product of a college of education that, like the one I attended, pushes a liberal agenda, the teacher will never have known that this was controversial. The Catholic girls school I attended had us reading 'The Bell Jar', 'Go Ask Alice' and 'Cather in the Rye', but nothing about the lives of any women Saints.
There is plenty of good material out there. Your choices are to fight and provide curriculum for the entire school to use that is more Catholic and more appropriate, or to spend your time unteaching, or to homeschool.
All of these options require a great deal of time and effort on your part. Among my siblings and our children, I'm the only one who chose the third option. I know people who use Seton and Mother of Divine Grace. I take a different approach. We use Saxon for Math, and a tutor's class at a friend's home for Latin, I teach a home school writing class (Which you are clearly able to do!), and the readings we use in that class cover religion, social studies, and literature. I do this because my only child needs contact with people other than his ranting mom!!!
I'm a teacher with 25+ years of experience primarily with grade 7 through college level. I firmly believe that we need to prepare for either our Catholic schools to close because of the HHS mandate, or to be vigilant in fighting the anti-catholic teachers that are produced by colleges of education.
I don't envy you having to make this choice. It is never easy. Are you ready to fight up the chain of command and be surprised by who represents the opposition?
I think of our home school network here as similar to the underground networks in Poland's ghettos under Nazi and Soviet rule. Maybe that seems extreme, but I teach the teachers of the future. I know who's going to be teaching soon.
Hard choices all around, but email me if you would like to discuss it.
April 12, 2013 at 3:04 pm
As the onetime parent of two sons who went through Catholic school, I relate to your concern.
As the mother of a son who is now a Middle Grades, Catholic school, English and History teacher, I beg you to ask the teacher and hear everything before you jump to conclusions. Most importantly – read the book yourself. This could be part of a predetermined curriculum or dove-tail with another section, or countless different possibilities. You said you child is new – what did this class have last year?
A good teacher can teach the Declaration and teach the social impact of slavery and analyze a piece of young adult literature that examines the life a slave-holding colonial man who may love his children. Catholic children in the 21st century from traditional Catholic homes will grow up with over 50% of their generation being born out of wedlock. They must be able to distinguish individuals – all of whom deserve love and understanding from the sins they or their parents commit or we better start looking for an island to live on.
Adolescent children may be children now and should live as such, but the window of obtaining the adult knowledge they need to form their own conscious and figure out how to live strongly in a world at odds with their values is closing before your eyes.
Middle schoolers are amazing. Be careful not to sell your daughter short.
April 12, 2013 at 3:07 pm
Freak out and take your child out now.
Forget about having a curriculum. You have a library. You have internet. Figure out what she's interested in and help her find age appropriate stuff for that subject. She won't even notice she's learning anything.
You do not want a well rounded student, for a well rounded student is an obese student with no direction in life. You want to tap into her drive to learn. And keep her away from stupid people. Did you meet any education majors in college?
April 12, 2013 at 3:27 pm
First of all, let me say I am not a fan of Jefferson, and my dissertation was a critique of his philosophy from a conservative point of view. That being said, this is outrageous. There is no conclusive proof that Thomas Jefferson sired children by Selly Hemmings – although contra David Barton, there is no conclusive proof that he did not. It's mere speculation either way. So to devote an entire historical lesson to a book that treats this as historical fact is little different than your child's teacher assigning the Da Vinci Code.
April 12, 2013 at 3:39 pm
I agree with many of the commenters. There are so many good classics. Why this book?
April 12, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Ahhh. I remember the heady days of my youth, when I went to school and learned math. Followed that with some civics and history. Gym class. Reading great works…depending on the grade.
Now there has to be an agenda in what I read. I have to have someone bend my thoughts, not hear my thoughts. And history…only if it supports someone else's revisions to a modern world that is unrecognizable to the one I grew up in. I don't mind change. But it should be an improvement or make things better, but undermine everything of value and worth.
April 12, 2013 at 4:11 pm
I have not read any of the other comments yet. However, I am compelled to say, Why are you not homeschooling yet? Just wondering!
God bless.
Kris
April 12, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I think you are right to be concerned. I would definitely talk to the teacher about it. On the one hand, we should not canonize the founding fathers of our country, as if they were saints, because they weren't. But I think more time should be spent learning about the great things that they did than learning about their mistakes and sins. I am not even sure that I would let my children read this book.
April 12, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Well… If they can get the future generation to see the founders of a great nation as a bunch of troubled folks, It will be easier to toss out the Constitution.
It has been my experience that Catholic schools are not unlike public schools except they cost more…
We tried Catholic school, now we home school.
April 12, 2013 at 5:11 pm
It may be a fact that Jefferson fathered children with one of his slaves, just as it may be a fact that Kennedy was a philanderer and adulterer, but that doesn't mean it should be a required subject of study at a Catholic Grade School. Shame on the teacher and administration of the school!