Courtesy of The Atlantic:
For homeschooling parents who want to teach their children that the earth is only a few thousand years old, the theory of evolution is a lie, and dinosaurs coexisted with humans, there is no shortage of materials. Kids can start with the Answers in Genesis curriculum, which features books such as Dinosaurs of Eden, written by Creation Museum founder Ken Ham. As the publisher's description states, "This exciting book for the entire family uses the Bible as a 'time machine' to journey through the events of the past and future."
It's no secret that the majority of homeschooled children in America belong to evangelical Christian families. What's less known is that a growing number of their parents are dismayed by these textbooks.
Take Erinn Cameron Warton, an evangelical Christian who homeschools her children. Warton, a scientist, says she was horrified when she opened a homeschool science textbook and found a picture of Adam and Eve putting a saddle on a dinosaur. "I nearly choked," says the mother of three. "When researching homeschooling curricula, I found that the majority of Christian homeschool textbooks are written from this ridiculous perspective. Once I saw this, I vowed never to use them." Instead, Warton has pulled together a curriculum inspired partly by homeschool pioneer Susan Wise Bauer and partly by the Waldorf holistic educational movement.
For many evangelical families, the rationale for homeschooling has nothing to do with a belief in Young Earth Creationism or a rejection of evolutionary theory. Some parents choose to homeschool because they're disenchanted with the values taught in the public school system. Others want to incorporate more travel into their children's education. Still others want to implement specific learning techniques they believe are more suitable for their children.
But whatever their reason for homeschooling, evangelical families who embrace modern science are becoming more vocal about it -- and are facing the inevitable criticism that comes with that choice. "We get a lot of flak from others for not using Christian textbooks," Warton says.
The assertion that anyone who believes in evolution "disregards" the Bible offends many evangelicals who want their children to be well-versed in modern science. Jen Baird Seurkamp, an evangelical who homeschools her children, avoids textbooks that discredit evolution. "Our science curriculum is one currently used in public schools," she says. "We want our children to be educated, not sheltered from things we are afraid of them learning."
I think I shared with you the story of my daughter bringing her home school "textbook" to me which simply answered a question about where man came from by quoting Genesis, and in which a frighteningly large number of study questions could legitimately be answered with "God did it."
Ever since then I have had a very low opinion of Christian homeshoolers, and opinion that was in no way helped by watching the documentary "Jesus Camp." but I have to say that it THIS trend continues I will have to reevaluate my innate distrust of home schooling.
However I doubt very seriously that I will not always be a little suspicious that the purpose for MOST homeschoolers is to keep their children isolated from alternative points of view that might endanger their ability to indoctrinate their children into certain religious or cultural traditions that are not supported by our progressive nation as a whole.
Evangelical homeshoolers rejecting Creationism in favor of Evolution. Possibly the best news of the day.
Info Post
0 comments:
Post a Comment