Welcome to home schooling without religion!
Content:
Ramblings of a Homeschool Mom (with links)
update: 2006
update: 2007
update: 2009
Curricula (without the ramblings)
Secular Homeschooling sites
Teaching about religion
email lists for atheist homeschoolers
a word on support groups
Ramblings of a Homeschool Mom
(with links)
Most of the prepared curricula available for homeschoolers is Christian,
containing scriptures, references to god's glory and creation, and definitely
lacking in any evolutionary theories, except in attempts to debunk them! Don't buy it! You may have
heard of the following:
A Beka
Alpha-Omega
Bob Jones
School of Tomorrow (Now,
Accelerated Christian Education)
Unfortunately, these curricula are so steeped in Christianity that even
purchasing individual subjects will not shield you from the onslaught of
indoctrination. Yes, my friend, even mathematics can be related to the
glory of god!
Sonlight and
KONOS are also Christian curricula but can
be taught without the Christian slant. For example, KONOS is a multi-level
teaching guide with suggested activities and readings that can be modified to
fit your secular lifestyle. Sonlight consists mostly of books to read, few
of which are decidedly biased in favor of Christianity. But, as with the
other packaged curricula, these are very structured. Your school day is
outlined for you with little room for change. Sure, you could purchase
KONOS to use in any manner you want...but the cost is prohibitive.
If you think you need a packaged curriculum,
Core Curriculum of America offers both
a Christian AND a secular package and, even better, will customize packages for
your family and student. They're not cheap, however, but they might be
just what the beginning homeschooler needs to ease fears and anxiety about how
on earth they can teach their kids at home.
Atrium School offers Core
Curriculum Packages for a reasonable price--you aren't required to enroll in
their school to purchase them. You can make minor changes in the
curriculum if necessary; for instance, you can substitute one level of math for
another.
We spent the first several months of our homeschooling experience testing
the waters and learning about the methods that might work for us. We're
still doing it! Don't expect to jump into homeschooling and have
everything fall into place. Homeschooling is a lifestyle that you grow
into and may take time.
At our homeschool, we follow the
Core Knowledge
Sequence put out by the Core
Knowledge Foundation. (Beware the
Core Classics
sold on the Core Knowledge website! They are not unabridged
but retold classics. That's a big no-no in our home school.) In the beginning, we followed it very closely
with the
books
by Hirsch, supplementing with library books, experiments not given in the
books, and Saxon Math.
When my children were 10 and 12, we felt they were ready
to be self-taught. We began a new adventure loosely modeled on the
Robinson Curriculum.
The Robinson Curriculum is Christian-based, make no mistake about that.
I can't tell if the materials in it are slanted to Christianity without
purchasing them. It sounds as if this curriculum may be used by secular homeschoolers--but,
I have been told by a fellow homeschooler that it is "very religious." The
package consists of some 22 CDs including the classics that you print out for
the kids to read, encyclopedias, etc.
Mr. Robinson's idea is that kids should learn the basics of reading, writing and
math and not start formal science until they've mastered math through calculus.
His children are self-taught, spending five hours each day at their own tables
with two hours of math, a one-page daily essay, and readings in history and
science for the rest of the time. Mr. Robinson is far too strict for my
liking (I see no problem with a short break for a snack, we're not schooling six
days a week for ten months a year no matter who tells me I should, etc.) but
many of his ideas make sense to me. For one, I want my children to stop
depending on me to put information into their brains. It is time they
learned how to learn themselves!
I approached the self-taught method with the expectation that my kids would
need very little of my input and would work through their lessons on their
own...willingly. Right. I didn't "assign" them anything. I
went over their books and workbooks with them, explaining about how much they
should do daily or weekly to finish in the school year, showed them their "plan"
books where they ought to keep track of what they did each day, and left them to
become self-motivated. My 10-year-old son could not move from subject to
subject without being told to and I frequently found him in his room playing.
My 12-year-old was a little better, but typically avoided the subjects he didn't
like and spent hours reading on those he enjoyed.
September of 2002 brought some changes. My 11-year-old is now
"assigned" a list of school work to do each day. When he's in a good mood,
he can be done in an hour and a half. I keep thinking I ought to assign
more, but his "off" hours are spent journaling, creating character cards similar
to Pokemon, writing and illustrating comic books, etc. and these are all very
educational pursuits.
My 12/13-year-old was left on his own still, though with a bit more input
from me. Mid-year I realized he wasn't keeping track in his plan book so I
took over and now try to get info from him each day regarding where he's at in
his books.
This method is working for us. My children have become more
self-motivated, at least in completing the school work they know is expected of
them. Getting them to pick up dirty socks, well, that's another thing
altogether.
Update 2003: My 13-year-old entered 8th grade in public this year. He
was desperate for more kids to hang out with. He's in the top group in his
school and it's very challenging for him, mostly because he has to learn to take
tests and figure out what the teachers want of him. He's doing well and is
happy. He insists that his 12-year-old brother start public school for 7th grade
next year.
I had always planned for my kids to go to public
high school. My philosophy
on schooling is that children ought to remain family-oriented until their teens,
when it is natural for them to become more peer-oriented--not totally
peer-oriented...but not all-consumed with family either. They must begin to
become their own persons and prepare for leaving home. We lived in Denver when
the Columbine shootings happened and I spent some time considering home
schooling through high school. But I never really gave up the idea of their
returning in 9th grade.
My oldest has had some difficulty adjusting in 8th grade where it seems
expected that he should know the ropes from the 7th grade experience. High
school is much bigger and more challenging than junior high. So, he feels that
it will be best for his brother to start next year. We'll see... Our youngest
remains in his excellent charter school.
For those unfamiliar with our situation: I have never been fully committed to
homeschooling as a philosophy, only to finding the best situation for my
children and my family.
Update 2004: My oldest not only survived public middle school, but
actually came home on the last day of school saying he couldn't wait for next
year. He said that the first few weeks were tough and there were times he wanted
to return to home school. But the good outweighed the bad so he persevered and
is glad of it.
My middle child is preparing psychologically and emotionally for entrance
into public school in the fall for 7th grade. I am very worried. There are times
in child rearing when we aren't completely sure what the best course of action
is. We are, after all, conducting experiments and our children are the guinea
pigs! Part of me would hold this child home through high school. But I can feel
in my heart that such a decision isn't based on an objective and reasonable
assessment, but instead on my love for him and my fears for him.
I was telling him (while probably trying to convince myself) that what he
needed at thirteen was to begin to be his own person, to be out of the house and
out from under mother's nose for a while each day, to find some friends other
than his neighbors, to expand his mind and his options. "Bad" he said. "True,
but bad." And that's about all the acceptance I think I'll get from him.
And so, it appears, for at least another year, my homeschooling experience
is ended. Our youngest will enter third grade next year. His charter school is
still small and wonderful. He is learning far more than his brothers did in
their short public school experiences. However, their chances of getting fourth
through sixth grades at the school are looking slim. So, I may be bringing him
home for a few years of homeschool. It will be quite a challenge, as this kid
thinks he is so much brighter than his mother that I may have to have him
schooling me!
Update: 2005: My three
sons are doing well in public school and benefiting from it. We enjoyed our
homeschooling experience and would recommend it to any parent seriously
considering it. But we see the good points of public education as well. Neither
choice is wrong; and neither choice is right. The choice must be a personal one
for you, your family, and especially your child.
For my part, I'd like to say a
few things about parenting and schooling.
1. Homeschooled children are not
better behaved than public-schooled children. The same Lord of the Flies
mentality exists in both groups. I witnessed homeschoolers teasing, hitting,
kicking, alienating and bullying. I witnessed public school children being kind,
tolerant, accepting and cooperative. Homeschooling children doesn't make them
any less children.
2. All children whose days are
filled with too much activity suffer stress. Public school children will suffer
more because they spend less time at home and with a parent. Public school
children, especially, should have few extra-curricular activities.
3. Elementary public school
children need a parent or guardian to come home to. Before and after school care
is bad. BAD, BAD, BAD! If you can't parent your children, don't have them.
4. Homeschool parents do not
necessarily care about their children more than public school parents. Being
with your children all day can be just as selfish an activity as sending
them off to school every day. Not everyone who makes these decisions does so
with the best interest of his child in mind. So, make your choice, and don't let
anyone else make you feel you're doing the wrong thing.
Update 2006: My middle son never really got into public school so, after a
couple of weeks in the high school this fall, he came home again. And because
I'd always wanted to let our youngest have a taste of homeschooling, I pulled
him out of his charter school. The oldest is still fairly happy in high school,
but is considering attending college for his final year.
Homeschooling high school is a
scary thing. I realize that not all homeschoolers approach schooling as
academically as we do and they remain more relaxed. I have no doubt that their
children can and will succeed just as well as those more academically inclined
because, as I keep reminding myself, learning is a lifelong process. Being
filled with certain facts at a certain age isn't necessary. Still, I continue to
expect certain academic pursuits of my children. I expect them to do math
regularly, read science and history, practice spelling and grammar, and read
literature regularly. It's just the way I am.
Because I am still with an
umbrella school that issues transcripts, they do have standards for high school
courses and I am doing my utmost to ensure that my 9th grader gets a good '9th
grade' education. After my earlier experience, I decided this time I'd go with
packaged curricula.
Because I pulled the kids out
after school began, I was unable to get a reasonable appointment date with
Core Curriculum of America, so I
ordered packaged curricula from their affiliate,
Homeschool Supercenter. I'm
very happy with all of it except the math.
The math textbooks are designed
for teachers who plan their lessons. You can do that as a homeschooler, of
course. You'd have to read each lesson ahead of time and maybe research some of
it to understand it well enough to teach it to your student. But there is not
enough information in the text book alone for your student and sometimes not
enough for you.
I ended up adding Saxon math
curricula for both kids. I had to pay extra money, to be sure, but to me it was
worth it. Next spring, I will order custom curricula for the boys that includes
Saxon math.
Update: 2007
Well, it turned out I didn't care much for the 5th grade history book in the
packaged curricula either. This year, I purchased all of our textbooks
separately at the Homeschool Supercenter and saved a good deal of money, as well
as getting some really great books.
Our oldest pulled out of public
high school this year, after about a month. He was finally sick of it. Most of
his friends had graduated, so there was little to keep him there. He said only
one of his teachers actually taught him anything and he could stay home and read
textbooks. So, I found all of his textbooks online and ordered them for him.
Only one was expensive, at about $100. He'll be doing mostly AP work and taking
the AP exams. And in January, he'll do full-time dual enrollment at the local
college.
I'm having to pull teeth to get
the 10th grader to do any work beyond music. He writes music and lyrics and
plays bass guitar. He's very good at it, but he has to actually do the Algebra 2
and history and science if I'm going to give him a grade. I told him to start
with 2 hours of academics a day. I left him with that for a week and came back
to see what he'd accomplished. Maybe one page of spelling. Okay. I gave him one
more week and told him if he didn't start getting work done, I'd be assigning
him daily work. Still nothing. So last week I assigned him a small amount of
work on Monday. By Friday, he'd accomplished it. ARGH.
The plan next week is to give him
a full week's worth of work on Monday and nag the hell out of him. :)
Update:
2009
Anthony is gearing up for dual enrollment for his senior year next year. Jeffrey
is taking a few high school courses this year and plans to start dual enrollment
in 10th grade. Danny's at BCC and moving on the UCF.All is well; we'ver relaxed
a great deal and seem to have found our pleasant rut.
Curricula
Core Curriculum of America
Atrium School
Core Knowledge Foundation
Secular Curriculum Publishers (a big list of them)
Moving Beyond the Page
Saxon Math
I just love Saxon Math and highly recommend it. It teaches both the student and
the teacher. There is so much work available with it that we can pick and choose
what to practice at each lesson. We generally teach three to four lessons at a
sitting, and then do part of the problem set for the last lesson covered.
Tougher lessons might be handled all by themselves, of course.
Math-U-See
Singapore
Math
Key
Curriculum Press
Artistic
Pursuits
We used this for a while; it's excellent.
Power-Glide
Foreign Languages
Rosetta Stone
The kids never got into Power-Glide Spanish. Rosetta Stone is all on the
computer. German 1 is the equivalent of 2 years of high school German, so that's
what the middle kid will be using.
Literacy
Unlimited
Secular Homeschooling Websites
Atheist Homeschool
Homeschooling Freethinkers
An Atheist Homeshooler blog
Secular Homeschool
Secular Homeschooling Resources
Teaching About Religion
Someone emailed me with these sites. I haven't looked at them very
deeply, but what I have seen so far is impressive. Have a look:
Teaching about Religion:
focus on freethought
Teaching About Religion With a
View to Diversity
Email lists for secular homeschoolers
These lists are not area-specific. Search Yahoogroups.com for groups in
your area.
Homeschool
Atheists
Secular Homeschool
(This list looks dead...but there are still over 200 members.)
Sonlight Secular
For users of Sonlight Curriculum who
modify it to make it secular
Support Groups
A support group is almost
necessary in homeschooling. If you live in a neighborhood full of kids, maybe
you can get by without one. As a secular homeschooler, take heart; while it may
seem that there are no inclusive groups in your area, you'd be surprised what
you'll find out just keeping your ears open.
For one thing, the most uptight
Christian support groups tend to know all about the 'Satanic' or 'witch' groups.
That is...the inclusive groups, who allow all homeschoolers to be members
regardless of religion. So, if that's all you think you can find, hang out with
them a while and listen well.
I belong to a wonderful inclusive
group that was once full of liberal Christians and is now predominantly pagan. I
love it. A new member complained about the Christianity bashing she claimed took
place at a park day and was told by one of our group's leaders that our group is
open to everyone, even people who bash Christianity. I feel so happy
there--well, as much as can be expected of an introvert like me.
Groups can be found through a
good internet search, either at Yahoo Groups or the parent educator associations
in your state. And if you can't find an inclusive group, start one! You will be
pleasantly surprised, I assure you. I know I was.
