Wow, emmielyVA, how very sad. As a middle school social studies teacher who is married to a high school social studies teacher, I would like to say that not all SS teachers are that way. I'm sorry you have had a bad experience. Let's face it... according to NCLB, the social studies are no longer important. Great idea, guys. And middle school was a joke? The problem we are having in Missouri is that so MUCH new content is being introduced in middle school that the kids are having trouble with the standardized tests. The increase in difficulty between the 5th grade test and the 7th grade test is astronomical and it is very difficult for the kids to absorb it all.

Again, what a sad experience you had. BTW, if you read historical FICTION novels, you aren't really learning history -- you are only learning someone's made up version of history. Just something to consider. :-)