Sotw + religion ?

[bbrandonsmom]

Have I missed something here? I haven't received my Sotw yet and must have missed it in Twtm. But if they are saying to start w/ the bible for history, is that in Sotw? Or do you use a different curriculum? I searched but couldn't find a thread here. Thanks.

[KarenNC]

Who is "they" and where are "they" saying to start with the Bible?

[bbrandonsmom]

In Twtm, it has under the history section to start w/ ancients, because you are starting at the beginning. On the recommended history book list, in the order how they appeared in history, the Bible is listed first. So it got me wondering if there is a section in Sotw that covers that, or do they keep in entirely separate, so the parents can chose a religious curriculum if they chose?

[Jen+4dc]

In Twtm, it has under the history section to start w/ ancients, because you are starting at the beginning. On the recommended history book list, in the order how they appeared in history, the Bible is listed first. So it got me wondering if there is a section in Sotw that covers that, or do they keep in entirely separate, so the parents can chose a religious curriculum if they chose?

 

We just finished SOTW1 and are getting ready to start Vol 2.

 

In Vol 1 there were several bible stories (ie Abraham leaving Ur and beginning to worship only 1 god (montheism), Israelites leaving Egypt, Jesus being cruicified, etc). None of these, IMHO, were presented as religious "doctrine" or absolute truth. I do not consider SOTW to be a religious curriculum.

 

Caveat: Many different religions' myths (meaning sacred stories) are presented throughout the book. Interestingly enough, they are all prefaced with "The people of Ancient India believed....." or "Buddhism teaches that...." whereas the Christian stories (like Abraham and the Israelites, and Jesus being crucified) are not prefaced with any statement like that. (Although SOTW doesn't present the resurrection as fact, it is presented with a caveat that ancient Christians believed....).

 

You can do a forum search on "SOTW secular or christian" and get tons of old threads dicussing this with quotes from the book. You'll get both sides that way.

 

Hope this helps.:)

[KarenNC]

In Twtm, it has under the history section to start w/ ancients, because you are starting at the beginning. On the recommended history book list, in the order how they appeared in history, the Bible is listed first. So it got me wondering if there is a section in Sotw that covers that, or do they keep in entirely separate, so the parents can chose a religious curriculum if they chose?

 

(Sorry, should have been "Who are they.....")

 

It's not possible, IMO, to deal with history and culture without also talking about the belief systems of the cultures involved. This is as true of trying to ignore Christianity in Western cultures as it is of trying to pretend the Greeks and Romans didn't worship other Gods, for instance (though I have seen folks try this on both sides). What I look for is something that attempts to treat the religions the way the cultures themselves did, respecting the fact that the ancients (or whomever) were/are capable of just as deep a belief in their religion as any Christian in the West is today rather than ridiculing them.

 

We've done all four volumes (1st-4th grade) and will be keeping them on hand as a supplement for 5th-8th. SOTW does a better job than most homeschool curricula at trying to treat the situation even-handedly and attempts to look at the religions from within the perspective of the cultures in which they were/are practiced, which I appreciate. It's not perfect, and does tend to treat the Bible as more of a modern-style history text than it does the equivalent stories of other cultures (see above), which are presented more as "stories" than historical fact. It's much better at it, though, than many Christian-specific curriculum which go out of their way to say things like, "The Greeks believed in very silly stories," or "Of course, as we know, these are not the same as the One True God *we* know," or "They were following mistaken/evil/wrong/false gods instead of the One True God, and see where it got them, aren't we glad we know the Truth." If you are looking for one that treats the subject that way (and evidently many people are), you will probably be happier with a different text. If you want a lot of Jewish or Christian history included, you will want to supplement as well as the text is not built around that timeline as some are.

 

SOTW, being a history text rather than a science one, begins with the shift from nomadic to farming cultures, so if you are wanting to include prehistory and hominid evolution, you will need to supplement there as well. I just did this this summer in prep for a second go-round with the ancients. I mention this because some of the history encyclopedias do indeed include the formation of the earth and the evolutionary timeline.

Edited August 12, 2010 by KarenNC