Unfortunately, I can’t quote the whole article, or I would. Let me attempt to expound. In one part of the article, she (the mother) talks about how she was “worried that her son might be becoming a vegetarian” and “up in arms because her daughter saying that the family should start recycling”. The article itself implies that a conservative Christian parent should love their children no matter what (although, as I’ve already said, it also implies that if you’ve raised them properly, they will eventually turn back to Jesus). But the very fact that the article is in there would seem to indicate that a lot of home schooling parents feel this way. Also, the repeated insistence that if the kids have good, Christian upbringing, that the kids will, ultimately, be Christian. Perhaps this quote is telling:
I guess that means that if the kid becomes pagan or something, the mom can assume that God has turned His back on her.
Perhaps more than this article, the tone of the whole magazine bothers me. It was the phrase about being afraid her kids would turn into secular liberals that made me laugh right out loud, though.
Probably because there is a section of Christians who believe that environmentalism is too “secular”. A girl I went to school with had a t-shirt that had a cartoonish picture of the Earth on it, and on the back a poem that began; “The Earth is not my home, although it seems to be. My home is with my God, in the home He’s made for me.” Which smacks of; “The Earth? Why Care?”
Not to say that the article profiled a family who subscribes to those beliefs, but they have likely been at least exposed to them.
Ok. I see. Because of course every good Christian knows you MUST kill animals for food, and that trying to preserve the earth’s resources is an insult to God. Or something. She can only hope they remember their good Christian upbringing, and return to eating the nice animals and laying waste to the environment.
You’re right, this woman is completely batty in what she’s choosing to worry about.
You see, recyclers are tree-huggers. Tree-huggers are liberals. Liberals are atheists. Athiests believe in evil-lution. Evil-lution says you can turn you back on God, and need no more morals. That means murder is OK. And as we all know, murder can lead to DANCING!
My folks bought a couple of Prentice Hall science texts. They worked for me, they worked for my brother, they can work for you. That is, assuming you’re still looking.
Well, my oldest is just about done. My middle daughter has an online secular curriculum that we’re very happy with, but as of now, it only runs through 7th grade (they’re working on expanding it through high school), and next year she’ll be on to 8th grade. If her current curriculum doesn’t offer 8th grade classes by then, perhaps we’ll do that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Maybe it’s like the James Watt effect. Recycling is an effort to help preserve the planet, but true Christians believe the Second Coming of Christ will be here any time soon, so recycling efforts are moot at best, and sacreligious at worst.
If the world’s going to end any day now, why worry about the environment at all? The Earth is ours to pillage anyway. Right? sigh I know this is not a common mainstream Christian view, but the sort of people who homeschool to protect their kids from the real world are hardly mainstream Christians.
There’s a fair number of other sorts of homeschoolers, I’ve heard, and I don’t think they’d be any happier about this sort of material than you are (especially the pagans!), norinew. You aren’t alone, even though it still sucks.
whiterabbit’s absolutely right that it sucks, and about norinew not being alone.
FWIW, I was personally skeptical about the homeschooling movement but still helped develop a collection in my library specifically geared toward their needs. It sure wasn’t easy, because it meant sorting through a glut of materials on a limited budget. It involved a lot of hair-tearing because the choices run the full gamut from fairly straightforward curriculum tools to wacko screeds. It’s a professional obligation because a public library is everybody’s “school” library. Actually it’s just an extension of our traditional Parent/Teacher collection.
We now have a very active core usership of almost 300 families–and my mind has done a 180 spin. We provide core materials, space for meetings and programs (the same as for anyone else) and basic instruction in library use, along with usual story hours, etc. And these people are great. They’re motivated as hell, hence my emphasis on “active”. They’re right in there with their kids. We don’t provide every spin-directed frill (as if the budget would allow that) but the basics are there. The parents can–and do–provide the rest.
I’m the daughter of a born, life-long teacher, and a firm believer in the necessity and wonders of education. But public schools can’t solve all of society’s problems, not the least of which is parental indifference. Too many teachers have an uphill fight against clogging bureacracy while reigning in unsocialized kids. It doesn’t take many feral kids to divert resources toward their long neglected needs.
Sorry. Went on a rant there. (And it felt good!) Even with my newly expanded perspective, I don’t like overly stifling learning environments for kids. But I can’t get all the het up about it either, in terms of relative lasting risks.
Oh no. I have to call my mom now to see if my being a vegetarian has upset her in some way.
Of course, my mom IS a secular liberal. So she probably thinks it’s really okay, and isn’t pretending (although she does worry that I don’t get enough protein).
Wait. My mom is a secular liberal AND she eats meat. Is that even allowed?
This reminds me about an article I read in Time magazine not too long ago. It was basically anti-home schooling, because it’s the most involved parents who home school, therefore home schooling removes the most involved parents from the school system. This hurts the whole school system. The article seemed unconcerned with fixing the underlying problems that makes parents want to home school their kids. :rolleyes:
Well, of course it’s allowed. All it took was a 6-week training course, a 40-page application to TSLGC (The Secular Liberal Governing Committee) and a $50.00 per year permit.
In all honesty I expected homeschoolers to be religious/political extremists, based on the stuff in popular press. I undertook developing this program with all the enthusiasm of one facing a particularly invasive gynecological test: bloody, awkward, painful, scary and bearing potentially awful results.
Shifting blame for inadequate schools has morphed into a lucrative industry for governments, unions, religious and political extremists and countless puzzled, frazzled parents caught in the fray.
Based on experience, I won’t dismiss homeschoolers as renegades, for any viewpoint. Comfy labels don’t fit. It isn’t an option open to everyone but it’s grown far beyond tidy little slots.
I don’t know what "the answer’ is, but if individuals can and do provide better education for their kids then that’s a wake-up call. IMO that’s a healthy reality check. Sadly, I think it ultimately comes down to adults acting as adults for kids. The multi-layered blame game shifting is the problem. Hello litigation, panels of experts, mandates, initiatives, yadda yadda yadda.
The system’s been broken for a long time. No fault to parents who create alternatives for their own kids. And props to those trying to fix the system from the inside, btw. It’s an uphill, thankless struggle.
Check here for lots of college coursework, including labs and such, from MIT. All free. You can’t get college credit for doing the work there, but you can at least check your answers and such (and read).
