Notgrass Government?

[ktgrok]

Anyone done this lately? DD likes their middle school American History, and I like the idea of doing government next year, to align with the election. I would not use the biographies listed, but instead choose a few I like better. 

I'm wondering how much bias there is toward small government? And the 2023 edition has a section on the integrity of elections - REALLY wondering what that actually looks like. Could be saying it is important to rely on vote counts and not crazy politicians spewing lies, or could be about how there is supposedly a ton of voter fraud or who knows. 

Edited May 18 by ktgrok

[Servant4Christ]

You should call Notgrass customer service. Josh (usually who answers the phone) has answered many questions for me in regard to content over the years.

[pitterpatter]

I find that government is actually a good one for dual enrollment since it is also required, at least in our state, during college. My daughter is so thankful that she only had to take it once. She also completed American History as dual enrollment, as it's another one that she has zero desire to potentially repeat. (Our state requires both for high school and either during college, but we decided to knock them out with dual enrollment and never look back. Lol.)

[ktgrok]

On 5/20/2024 at 4:05 PM, pitterpatter said:

I find that government is actually a good one for dual enrollment since it is also required, at least in our state, during college. My daughter is so thankful that she only had to take it once. She also completed American History as dual enrollment, as it's another one that she has zero desire to potentially repeat. (Our state requires both for high school and either during college, but we decided to knock them out with dual enrollment and never look back. Lol.)

My oldest did that. Government isn't required, but you are right, it is an option to count toward social studies credits at the local colleges. At least it was, I should go check. 

[ktgrok]

I sent an email to the company asking about if the course would be a good fit given that I'm pretty sure my ideas about the size of government are different than most users, and concerns over what was meant when they said they added info on electoral integrity and if that referred to claims by the last president of the election being "rigged". This was the response I got (quickly, I might add). I have to say, that once again I feel that although Ray Notgrass and I do not agree on a lot of things, I respect his approach. 

Thank you for your inquiry about the new edition of Exploring Government, and thank you for your kind words about our approach. Before I get into my answer, let me say that you can order a copy with the promise of a refund (less shipping) if you are not satisfied. So you always have that option.

 

We take the approach that the founders intended a limited federal government, but that the federal government has gone beyond what the founders intended. At the same time, I think people would be hard pressed to say which specific federal activities should be eliminated. Maybe the Department of Education. So many federal activities are ones we have come to rely on in our daily lives. National parks? The National Weather Service? I think we would be at a loss if we eliminated many government services. We are a big country with many needs and issues. As with many topics of discussion, a definitive answer one way or another is hard to come by. We summarize every cabinet department and discuss federal agencies without saying "The government shouldn't be doing this or that." We generally talk about what is, not about our ideas of what should be.

 

Regarding the election integrity lessons, I assure you that we did not do those to endorse a particular view. They mostly deal with registration, voting, and counting the votes. Corruption in handling elections used to be a problem in some places, but numerous laws have cleaned up the process. Yes, there are occasional issues and discrepancies, but not enough to turn around a national election. That would have involved seven million votes last time; it just didn't happen. I recently read "Disproven" by Ken Block, whom the Trump campaign hired to "find" voting irregularities to prove their claim. He didn't because he couldn't. They just weren't there. At the same time, Block points out in his book several areas where the election process can and should be streamlined and regularized. For instance, states do different things with the votes of people who vote early and then die before the election. Some states count them, and some states do not. States follow different procedures about counting and reporting votes and cleaning up the voter rolls. This is not to say they are corrupt, but it can lead to problems and questions.

 

I hope this answers your questions. Please feel free to write again if you would like more information. God bless your homeschooling.

 

Ray Notgrass