Comment: Since becoming involved in the liberty movement

I'm very particular about which history curriculum we use. At the outset here let me say that I am an evangelical Christian. Therefore, back in my Neocon days I would have gone with any Christian curriculum that upheld those views (which most do). Additionally, a majority of those same publishers support a strong federal government (though they do like to give lip service to the constitution); the "fact" that America is a "Christian nation" (really this is just code for what Dr. Paul said in the speech about using force to "make" someone moral - "that is authoritarian," he said); and other such egregious errors such as the view of Abraham Lincoln as hero, rather than the tyrant he was.

If your child is upper elementary (5th-6th grade), I wouldn't hesitate to use the Politically Incorrect Guide series for history - especially if you could do the books as read-alouds where you are able to explain things as you go. Children as young as seventh grade can understand Tom Wood's "Politically Incorrect Guide to American History" by themselves and should also be able to report on it. My 12 y.o. daughter just completed this book and then felt compelled to do her own further research and write a report on monetary inflation. The book is so well-written that every day she was excited about something she read. Also, I would suggest some of the Uncle Eric books by Richard Maybury for upper elementary - again as read-alouds for that age group. Currently this same daughter is reading "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" in that series - not because I'm "making her," but because she found her brother's book and wants to read it!

This leads me to tell you a final story. In high school my son read through the entire Uncle Eric series. This led to him becoming a Ron Paul supporter in '08 (though only sixteen at the time). In turn, he started to work on me! He would always tell me that I needed to check out Ron Paul, to which I would retort, "That kook?!" (Yes, I cringe at that now.) Unfortunately, it took me a couple of years to "get it" - even though I was the one who had him read the Uncle Eric books in the first place! But, truly, I give my son and the books by Richard Maybury credit for eventually leading me to embrace Dr. Paul's ideas. (And God, too, of course!) Anyway, just wanted to share that with you so you could see how powerful the right curriculum is in shaping and molding our children's belief systems.