Fourmother Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I just learned of this curriculum, and I'm considering it for my kids (6th, 3rd, and K) next year as part of our Earth science and astronomy studies. Can someone tell me whether Winter Promise is religious in nature and whether it is possible to use it a secular manner? How do the Adventures in Sea and Sky materials address matters like the age of the Earth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorna in the boonies Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I'm using Sea & Sky with my 11 year old this year. We really enjoy it, but it is very much young-earth (I am married to a firm old earth believer -- while, personally, I could care less one way or the other, I do balance their young-earth beliefs with dh's old-earth beliefs). I would not say that it is overtly religious in nature, but I do think that the curriculum has been written with the assumption that most users would be Christian. They do have a Bible study book, but you could quite easily just leave it out (I don't use it). I will say that I am viewing the curriculum through the eyes of a pastor's wife and that I am not bothered by any religious references, so it's possible that I may be forgetting something -- but I truly can't think of *anything* off the top of my head that would be a problem if you were wanting to use it secularly (other than the young earth issue, which I think you could adapt easily). (We're on week 33, so I've used most of it.) As I said, I keep a very close eye out for the young earth position as I teach, and I either 1) give the book's young earth opinion and then give the old earth reasoning, followed by something like "the Bible doesn't tell us and it really doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things as long as you believe what the Bible *does* say" (obviously not what you would say if you are wanting to use it secularly!) or 2) skip over the whole issue entirely. Depends on the day and the reason the topic is being discussed. I will say that my 6 year old (1st grade) has absolutely no interest in the course, even with the Young Learner's Guide. My 11 year old, though, is thoroughly enjoying it. (And I mean he is *reaaallllly* enjoying it! He just loves it!) He enjoys it to the point that I can't imagine having missed the entire program just because of the young-earth focus. It's a fairly minor part of the course. However, there are a couple of books that are so young-earth-centric that I wish I hadn't bothered to spend my money on them. If you end up deciding to go with it, I will be happy to let you know what those books are. I apologize if this isn't even coherent -- there is currently a lot of noise in my house and I'm not able to concentrate very well!:confused: Let me know if you have any specific questions. I'll be happy to help if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaC Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 WP S&S is basically a schedule of many books grouped around a theme and some games to help cement history. There is no commentary on the books being read in the TM. Some of the books are Christian and written from that world view most of the books are secular. It would be fairly easy with the age group you have to leave out the Christian world view books altogether or substitute with secular books. S&S is not a complete earth science program there is a lot on oceanography, weather, astronomy but nothing on geology or other earth science topics so the age of the earth is not cover much at all. The Christian books covering the ocean, weather, and astronomy could be replaced with Kingfisher, DK, or other secular type books or just dropped. The main spines for these subject are secular in nature. All the novels are secular except maybe one. The history text by WP is secular as well as the Captain's Log pages. Hope this helps and made sense, Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 There is a LOT of time spent on sailing, history of boats, navigation, and the like. I think 18 weeks are spent on boats/sailing. My DS really didn't want to spend so much time learning about navigational instruments and the like. The next 18 weeks are split between flight and space exploration. Quite a few of the spine books are religious, but it would be very easy to substitute those books with a DK or Usborne book, or similar. I also bought the young learners guide, and it had plenty of books that would have substituted for the religious ones. Be sure your kids want to learn an awful lot about sailing before you buy the program! If they are really into ships, then they will probably love it. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourmother Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 Thank you ever so much, ladies. Your reviews have given me much insight into the program. I appreciate your perspectives on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Lynx Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 You beat me to asking about it, here :) Sounds like I might do better just to pick the books I like and have us read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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