To the Mainstream Teacher

You wouldn’t expect to teach from math books that were full of wrong answers, but you sure have a hard time finding reliable information about Native American people and culture. The Cradleboard Teaching Project puts accurate enriching Native American study materials into the hands of teachers like yourself.

We have designed the Cradleboard Teaching Project to nurture the self-esteem of all children, both Indian and non-Indian.

Cultural sensitivity goes both ways. It has been my personal experience in multi-cultural classrooms as well as on five years of "Sesame Street" that improving cultural relations is always based in truth and wrapped in good will.

Imagine a mainstream class where teachers can provide to their students reliable and exciting instructional materials, created by participating Native American educators. The Cradleboard Teaching Project is not just corrected text. It is a chance for non-Indian students to interact with Indian people of their own age; and to be taught by a team of accredited Native American educators who feel that the true realities are more enriching than the old inaccuracies.

Combined with online chat, E-mail, Study Buddy partnerships, and Cradleboard online conferences between the two classes, this year the children in your class can have an experience in their Native Studies Unit that will certainly be more enriching than any in years past, and could build cross-cultural friendships for life.