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I searched, and didn't find this addressed, so please forgive me if it can be found and I overlooked it!

 

I am considering SO for one or two classes, and was wondering about Christian content in their classes. Can anyone tell me about that? We're looking at Latin and a writing class. I know they are Christian based, but I am wondering how that is woven in to the classes and the lessons, if at all.

 

I'm hoping to make my decision in the next day or so, so thanks in advance for any input!!

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...Dr. McM's paper discussing classical and Christian education?

http://scholarsonline.org/Info/WhitePapers/CsandCE.html

That might give you an idea of the underlying philosophy of Scholars Online, touching both faith and classical education.

 

My children have collectively taken quite a few classes from the Scholars Online teachers over the years. While the teachers are all Christians and the founders' philosophy of education is rooted in the Christian faith, the classes are not moralizing, sermonizing, nor evangelistic. They are conducted in an atmosphere of respect for all human beings, precisely because the SO founders believe that every human being is created in the image of God, and as such, is due his or her respect. I have never known any of the teachers to engage either in preaching or in attempts to challenge or undermine a student's faith.

 

The students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and faiths. While the majority of the students in my kids' classes have been Christians of various denominations or none at all, there have also been students who claim no religious belief and, I think, even those from other faiths. The reason this works so well is that charitable communication is one of the major non-negotiables in the SO classes, even when hot-button issues arise. Students learn to interact charitably and respectfully over all kinds of differences.

 

Biblical allusion is an important component of any kind of analysis of post-Resurrection literature, and some of the literature classes examine Biblical stories as literature. The works are examined as literature, though, not as doctrine. Still, the fact that faith is a lens through which the Christian student examines literature and history is not purged from the class discussion, but is welcome when it is charitable. Through Socratic discussion, students are encouraged not just to react to literature or history, but rather to think through and to explain their own reactions to the literature under discussion. These classes are not "worldview" classes designed to train a student to think a certain way. Rather, they are classes designed to train the student to think. Period. Religious and doctrinal instruction is left entirely in the hands of the family.

 

As for the specific classes you are considering: In Latin classes, the translation work is, of necessity, from the ancient secular authors who wrote in Latin before and during the time of Christ's life. The advanced student of Medieval Latin will encounter some of the early Christian writers' works in Latin since they were the prolific Latinists of the day. In the writing classes, the focus is on learning to write, so moral and religious discussions are less likely to arise unless it is to help a student learn to communicate his or her beliefs with grace and with logic.

 

I hope this helps. Our family is Protestant, so it is possible that things went over my head that might have raised eyebrows to someone of a different faith, but I don't *think* this is too likely. I know that the McMenomys are adamant about charity being the rule for communication in the classroom, and that they do not view the role of SO teachers as that of teachers of doctrine.

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Scholars Online has been using the name since 1994 when they were affiliated with ISLAS which was made up of Scholars Online Academy and Regina Coeli. It's too bad that Veritas Press picked up the same name when they started their online venture a few years ago. Thankfully Veritas Press seems to be changing their name to Scholars Academy since that is the name on all their web pages now.

 

Scholars Online is found at http://scholarsonline.org/Info/index.php

whereas the Veritas Press Scholars Academy is found at http://resources.veritaspress.com/Scholars_Online/Scholars_Online_Main.html

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