Are you a secular or Christian homeschooler?

[erica471]

We're Catholic but we aren't currently using much Catholic material. Honestly, I try and keep things as secular as possible and then add in religion/catechism. I never thought I'd use a Protestant curriculum, but actually this year we are using Sonlight and I couldn't be happier so far. I don't do the bible part, missionary stories etc.

[Gooblink]

Quite true. I think it can just be chalked up to the fact that I'm feeling a tad cranky today and should probably not be posting. My 'gripe' is that often in homeschooling communities Catholics, LDS, JW, and now Amish are not included in Christianity. It's an old gripe of mine. If one wants to separate different flavors of Christianity, why not say Catholic Christians, LDS Christians, etc.

 

 

 

This is interesting, and I hear the same thing...only the other way around. IME, It's the LDS, JW, Catholics and Amish who don't consider any other denomination to be "true" Christianity.

[HRAAB]

This is interesting, and I hear the same thing...only the other way around. IME, It's the LDS, JW, Catholics and Amish who don't consider any other denomination to be "true" Christianity.

 

Interesting. I've never heard that before. I can't speak for others, but as a 49 year old Catholic, I have never heard of Protestants referred to anything other than Christian within the Catholic Church. Yet, I can't count the times that I've been told Catholics aren't saved.

[TKDmom]

I'm Mormon, but I plan on homeschooling mostly secularly, using whatever materials fit the best scholastically, whether that is secular or Christian or something else all together. I have a feeling I'd probably fit in better with secular homeschoolers, for the most part.

 

 

Me too. I don't think there are any Mormon homeschool materials. There's not a huge homeschool trend among Mormons (although I think that's changing as ps continues to deteriorate). I tend to choose secular materials.

[dangermom]

 

This is interesting, and I hear the same thing...only the other way around. IME, It's the LDS, JW, Catholics and Amish who don't consider any other denomination to be "true" Christianity.

Mormons don't believe that everyone else isn't Christian. But like most Christian denominations, we do believe that ours is the most correct--otherwise we'd be Methodist or something. To a Mormon, the definition of Christian is "Someone who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior." We do not believe that everyone else is going to hell.

[mama2cntrykids]

We are Christian and use Christian materials. However, I do not object to using secular material. It all depends on what it is and if it's a fit for my kids.

[Dawn in OH]

Secular. But we discuss all religions.

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

This is the problem. Camps. "In which box do you live, please?"

 

Homeschoolers of the 80's have told me that in their day the fundy Christians and the unwashed hippies all got their kids together whenever possible, swapped curriculum, laughed and cried together, dealt with legislative issues and practical how-to's of homeschooling life, together...because homeschooling was the bond and everything else could be handled with good communication.

 

I wanna homeschool like that, probably because I am an unwashed hippie Christian who never quite knows who she is supposed to be friends with this year.

 

:001_huh:

 

I am a homeschooler. I am an American. I have a system of beliefs that is personal to me and worth passing on to my children. My worldview is to love my neighbor as myself.

 

Ain't that enough?

[jujsky]

We are secular, but we do discuss religions. All religions and beliefs, not just Christian.

 

I chose the first option just because this :iagree:wasn't a listed option.

[alpidarkomama]

For religious studies, we use strictly orthodox Jewish resources. For secular, we do use Apologia for science (with a bit of editing!), Story of the World (with lots of supplementation from Jewish history books, especially in Book 2), and other more secular-ish texts. I also always preview movies and secular literature books to make sure they are appropriate for our family.

 

And Jews are used to being "other." :)

[rockermom]

We're Christians who tend to prefer secular materials. We will most likely only use "religious" materials to teach about our faith. We will try to keep our faith separate from our academics.

 

*sigh* There are people of faith on this board who are not Christian, and who might not appreciate being thrown into the equivalent of "other" when you've chosen to break down flavours of Christianity to such a degree. "Religious" doesn't not necessarily mean "Christian."

 

We are atheist and homeschool secularly.

 

ETA: I don't know how to answer the poll, because I don't know what is meant by "religious materials." Learning about different faiths is part of our homeschooling experience. Using, say, Rod & Staff math is not.

 

I'm with nmoira about people of faith who are not Christian.

[RhondaJK]

This is the problem. Camps. "In which box do you live, please?"

 

 

 

I wanna homeschool like that, probably because I am an unwashed hippie Christian who never quite knows who she is supposed to be friends with this year.

 

:001_huh:

 

I am a homeschooler. I am an American. I have a system of beliefs that is personal to me and worth passing on to my children. My worldview is to love my neighbor as myself.

 

Ain't that enough?

 

:iagree: I am the crunchy granola mom, who believes in God but has real doubts about organized religion.:tongue_smilie:

[asta]

Why do you ask?

 

Personally, I am sick and tired of people with small numbers of posts asking this question. I feel as if I am part of someones thesis or magazine article.

 

And that it isn't going to be pretty.

 

 

asta

[naturegirl7]

We are definitely secular here.

 

I chose okay with some religious content - although neither option really fit us. I am assuming from the wording that you meant "Christian" when you stated "religious"? No offense meant, but that is really pigeon holing "religious content" as there are many mainstream Non-christian religions.

 

Either way...We just aren't the "click one box' kinda family.... We are very "out of the box" actually :tongue_smilie:

 

When it came to curriculum it was VERY important to me that it be secular, with little to no religious content/agenda. I want it based in evidence based science and historical fact. Which is rather difficult to find...

 

But that is cuz I want DS to be taught OUR morals and religious beliefs from ME and NOT during his academics...

 

But in our studies, and in his Religious Explorations at our church, we will be studying world religions in depth so there will be a good amount of religious content. There will probably be a good amount of Universal Diety and almost Pagan ideology brought into our Nature Studies too - not cuz of any curriculum or planned teaching but cuz our personal beliefs tend to bleed into our personal views of things and our daily experiences. For example - I have a child who (like his Momma) will literally hug a tree, or kiss a flower. :D He sees and loves the Divine Spark within all living things, so I am assuming that we will continue to have some neat philosophical and spiritual discussions while out on our nature treks. But it is incidental, and not something "taught".

 

 

I think that any personal belief system will have a tendency to bleed into how you percieve and recieve any particular lesson - regardless of whether it is purposely taught from a particular religious angle. Which makes polls like this impossible for me to complete with a simple - check one box kinda response. Hence my babbling :)

[naturegirl7]

:iagree: I am the crunchy granola mom, who believes in God but has real doubts about organized religion.:tongue_smilie:

 

 

:iagree:

[naturegirl7]

I voted the second option (secular, some religious materials acceptable).

 

We DO NOT teach any of the classes - especially not sciences - through the strict prism of a religious worldview. Because of that, we are highly unlikely to choose any curriculum which is based on that, let alone which preselects which content may be studied based on what the prism lets pass.

 

On the other hand, we do study Judaics on a regular basis (Hebrew language and literature; Jewish Bible; some Rabbinical scholarship, theology and philosophy) as well as expand our History studies to include specifically Jewish history, genesis of current religious trends and migrations, etc. We treat it as an academic rather than a religious field, since our basic orientation is secular, but there remains a strong national duty to inform our daughters of those things.

 

Being that we opted for a classical education, and being that education necessarily entails a worldview and cultural context, as well as that there is a vast scholarship in classical languages that pertains specifically to non-Jewish religious matters, we often include these things as well to see the whole picture. Also, a basic study of world religions is a must at some point for the sake of cultural literacy. Therefore, one cannot say that our schooling is "religion free" - but it certainly does not dictate how we approach other subjects, and we do actively try to stay away from homeschool materials with a religious agenda for other subjects, and again I emphasize, particularly sciences.

 

 

Very well said!!

[dcurry]

 

Why were charters included like that? Do some people avoid them for religious reasons?

 

 

Yes, there are some people who avoid charters for religious reasons. If someone is a Christian homeschooler, and is ok with a charter school, then it means they are ok with secular curriculum (since charters usually won't allow Christian/religious curriculum to be turned in).

[dcurry]

Why do you ask?

 

Personally, I am sick and tired of people with small numbers of posts asking this question. I feel as if I am part of someones thesis or magazine article.

 

And that it isn't going to be pretty.

 

 

asta

 

Honestly, you didn't have to answer the question if you didn't want to. I have a small number of posts (comparatively) because I usually don't have time to spend hours on a message board. I usually only post when I have a question about something or if I see that someone else has a question about something that I have an answer to.

 

I'm not writing a thesis. I just wanted to get a feel for the perspectives of the people on this board. I wasn't going to share the information with anyone. But feel free not to answer if you think the question is too personal.

[gingersmom]

Why do you ask?

 

Personally, I am sick and tired of people with small numbers of posts asking this question. I feel as if I am part of someones thesis or magazine article.

 

And that it isn't going to be pretty.

 

 

asta

 

 

:iagree:

[Closeacademy]

I am other.

 

Christian

using a mix of secular and a drop of Christian materials

Waldorf-inspired

 

 

I seek a balance.:001_smile:

[Mommyfaithe]

I chose strictly Christian. We do some secular supplements when needed (because there are a ton of good secular supplements), but our curriculum is Creation based, Christian worldview. We would not do a charter school though (if we were to do that, IMO I might as well have them in PS)

 

Just our views!

 

:iagree: us too...basically.

[Mommyfaithe]

I am a Christian who uses secular materials for homeschooling.

And who, btw, finds it offending that Catholics apparently aren't considered Christians anymore.

 

What's up with that anyway??? I find it totally weird.....A Christian believes Jesus is his or her Lord and Savior .....end of definition...Catholics certainly believe that.

 

Faithe

[Peela]

Religious is not a term that only Christians use.

 

As a non Christian, secular homeschooler, who has often used Christian material over the years....I also identify with being "religious"- just not Christian religious.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I am not sure.

 

We're DEFINITELY Christian; and everything we do in life, including schooling is done in view of our faith. However, we don't homeschool because we're Christians though I believe there are benefits spiritually.

 

We are willing to use materials with a religious bent as well as secular. Generally, we believe there are issues with both. I also think it is important my kids know what others believe and why we believe differently. For example, we believe there are huge scientific and Biblical issues with both 7 day creation and evolution.

 

So I'm either option 2 or 4, I guess, depending on how you read the question.

[Pamela H in Texas]

A Christian believes Jesus is his or her Lord and Savior .....end of definition

 

Well, that is your definition. I'm not sure we can define it for other people though.

 

ETA: I didn't take the poll the way other people did. There *are* specifically Catholic materials, for example. I can see separating that out just as well as someone choosing ONLY Mennonite materials. I didn't know if there was LDS material. I kinda figured not, but since their beliefs are different from mainstream christians, I can certainly see if they *did.*

Edited August 29, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[zookeeperof3]

Strictly Catholic, but I do use some non-Catholic but Christian materials.

Kim

[kalanamak]

I use some non-secular materials and edit out. Religion is a separate class and we don't favor one over the other.

 

:iagree:I teach religion as a cultural and historical phenomenon.

 

And to the OP, I love a poll. Data is good. And we can be as pretty as pie.

However, I believe we have been around this before, and, as I'm sure you are aware, you are getting the stats of "responders". I was reading an article recently about how in our local elections, the late mailers, the last 48 hour to the deadline mailers, tend to vote Republican. No one has a theory, yet.

[littlebug42]

I am a Catholic mom. I mostly use secular materials for all but religion of course. I am however using Horizons Math and Adventures in Phonics, both with some Christian content. I personally do not care for materials that are permeated with religion. I don't think it is necessary to diagram sentences with only religious content or other similar things.

[elegantlion]

This is the problem. Camps. "In which box do you live, please?"

 

Homeschoolers of the 80's have told me that in their day the fundy Christians and the unwashed hippies all got their kids together whenever possible, swapped curriculum, laughed and cried together, dealt with legislative issues and practical how-to's of homeschooling life, together...because homeschooling was the bond and everything else could be handled with good communication.

 

I wanna homeschool like that, probably because I am an unwashed hippie Christian who never quite knows who she is supposed to be friends with this year.

 

:001_huh:

 

I am a homeschooler. I am an American. I have a system of beliefs that is personal to me and worth passing on to my children. My worldview is to love my neighbor as myself.

 

Ain't that enough?

 

:iagree::iagree:I don't live in a box...

 

Why do you ask?

 

Personally, I am sick and tired of people with small numbers of posts asking this question. I feel as if I am part of someones thesis or magazine article.

 

And that it isn't going to be pretty.

 

 

asta

 

:iagree:

 

Honestly, you didn't have to answer the question if you didn't want to. I have a small number of posts (comparatively) because I usually don't have time to spend hours on a message board. I usually only post when I have a question about something or if I see that someone else has a question about something that I have an answer to.

 

I'm not writing a thesis. I just wanted to get a feel for the perspectives of the people on this board. I wasn't going to share the information with anyone. But feel free not to answer if you think the question is too personal.

 

I think part of the issue is that people on this board are very diverse and many/most of us don't fit into neat little categories. I used to work in insurance underwriting and we had to cram everyone into their little box for us to decide if we would accept them or not. I abhorred that job. I prefer to get to know people as individuals and accept them that way.

 

Not saying there is anything wrong with your question or poll, but this board has it's own unique flavor that could never be discerned from one poll. Stick around and keep reading, you are welcome here.

[AngieW in Texas]

I'm not quite sure how to respond. I am a secular hser. I use some religious materials, but I adapt them to remove the religious content. That was super-easy to do with SL. In Windows to the World, I just had my girls skip the religious sections (my Aspie had to read those sections anyway because of her Aspieness, even though they made her mad).

 

I can tell you that I really don't want any religious materials at all.

 

I have made do with religious stuff when it's the best that I could find although I did as much as I could to secularize it.

 

I did make my kids do the Biblical Allusion project in Windows to the World because I thought they should have the background.

[LittleIzumi]

I put Mormon/LDS but there aren't really LDS curricula available (I know of one history and one online school and that's it). I tend to use secular materials & insert LDS/Mormon teachings into it myself. I didn't see that as a poll option :tongue_smilie:.

[Parrothead]

I would have liked to voted Christian w/secular materials allowed, but you kicked the Catholics out of Christianity. Since there was no Catholic with/secular I picked other.

[Joanne]

You don't have a choice that fits me.

 

I am a spiritual person, a personal believer in Christ (but not necessarily Christianity).

 

I avoid the use of Christian materials in my homeschool.

[KarenNC]

Hellenic Neopagan Unitarian Universalist. We use secular materials, have done some limited adaptation of some specific Christian-specific materials periodically. We may well use some materials specific to other religions in the same way. We do adapt secular materials to more generally support our religious purposes and emphasize those as part of homeschooling (for instance, we may choose Solon's Precepts as copywork the way some homeschoolers choose passages from the Bible). Couldn't use any young-earth creationist or providential history material.

 

I voted "Religious/flexible about materials."

[Parrothead]

 

I'm not writing a thesis. I just wanted to get a feel for the perspectives of the people on this board. I wasn't going to share the information with anyone. But feel free not to answer if you think the question is too personal.

Okay, now that I've read every page of a 9 page thread I've got a better answer for you.

 

You've only been a member for a year, and you may not visit here every day. so you may have missed the big religious discussions. There have been a few whoppers. Those denominations you separated - Catholics, LDS and JW - have been... well, "misunderstood" would be the least offensive word to use.

 

It may serve you well that realize that this forum has a very diverse group of homeschoolers. A good many are very religious, but not necessarily practicing any form or Christianity.

 

We also have some very devout Christians on this board. As such they are all believers in Christ, but not Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian. There are also believers that are not devout.

 

There are some people have been hurt organized religion, some have fallen away from organized religion. Some are very personal in their beliefs.

 

It is difficult to be very inclusive in polls. There are a limited number of options, and way to many people will fit into the "other" category.

[Old Dominion Heather]

You have left off anywhere for the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, pagan, and all the "other" plethora of homeschooling parents on this board to vote. They ALL go under "Other?"

[missiemick]

We're Messianic -- so we definitely don't fit any of the categories. We use a mix of curriculum and modify the "Christian" stuff.

[Liza Q]

Christian, using a mix of Christian and secular materials but would not use a charter school.

[dcurry]

Thank you all for your responses. It was helpful to me, and interesting to see how diverse this group actually is.

 

Elegantlion wrote: "I think part of the issue is that people on this board are very diverse and many/most of us don't fit into neat little categories. I used to work in insurance underwriting and we had to cram everyone into their little box for us to decide if we would accept them or not. I abhorred that job. I prefer to get to know people as individuals and accept them that way.

 

Not saying there is anything wrong with your question or poll, but this board has it's own unique flavor that could never be discerned from one poll. Stick around and keep reading, you are welcome here."

 

I can see that now. I really wasn't trying to "box" people, but rather get a flavor for this board. The results were fairly surprising to me, actually. (I do think I got to know quite a few people by their responses... not just their checkmark). I wasn't intending to not accept someone based on their response. And thanks for your "welcome". :)

 

Parrothead, you wrote:" I would have liked to voted Christian w/secular materials allowed, but you kicked the Catholics out of Christianity. Since there was no Catholic with/secular I picked other."

 

I didn't actually kick them out. I would have been fine with you choosing "Christian w/secular". I honestly wasn't sure if Catholics separated themselves out, so gave them that option. I could have just as easily lumped them together.

 

And also, you wrote:"Okay, now that I've read every page of a 9 page thread I've got a better answer for you.

 

You've only been a member for a year, and you may not visit here every day. so you may have missed the big religious discussions. There have been a few whoppers. Those denominations you separated - Catholics, LDS and JW - have been... well, "misunderstood" would be the least offensive word to use.

 

It may serve you well that realize that this forum has a very diverse group of homeschoolers. A good many are very religious, but not necessarily practicing any form or Christianity.

 

We also have some very devout Christians on this board. As such they are all believers in Christ, but not Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christian. There are also believers that are not devout.

 

There are some people have been hurt organized religion, some have fallen away from organized religion. Some are very personal in their beliefs.

 

It is difficult to be very inclusive in polls. There are a limited number of options, and way to many people will fit into the "other" category."

 

Thank you. This makes sense to me. I have, indeed, missed many of the threads. As I mentioned before, I don't have the time to spend very long here. Maybe I should have lurked for a while more before jumping in and asking a somewhat personal question... however, I assumed that those not wanting to answer, wouldn't. And I did get a general feel for the culture of the group by asking this question. People do have different values/beliefs, and while I am not criticizing someone else or their beliefs, I wanted to know generally where people stood on these issues.

 

Old Dominion Heather, you wrote:"You have left off anywhere for the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, pagan, and all the "other" plethora of homeschooling parents on this board to vote. They ALL go under "Other?"

 

Yes. It appears about 80% of the "responders" on this poll fit into the first 4 options. Only 7% have chosen "other", though I do realize that many might not have responded if they felt they couldn't fit into a category. I could have just had an "other" for the 5th option I guess.

 

This group appears to be quite diverse, and also a pretty even mix, and yes, I know that everyone is different and is not defined by the box they check. I couldn't *possibly* have come up with *all* the options. I chose the two that I thought would be most popular (Christian & secular or non-religious) and maybe should have left it at that. I guess by giving a few more options that I could think of, I have either offended by separating them out, or offended by not including a particular option.

 

But really, my intent was not to offend, but rather to learn about the group.

 

Thanks again... I'll try to keep to less controversial topics. (Though it can get just as "heated" in a post about comparing math curriculum .....). :001_huh:

[Parrothead]

Parrothead, you wrote:" I would have liked to voted Christian w/secular materials allowed, but you kicked the Catholics out of Christianity. Since there was no Catholic with/secular I picked other."

 

I didn't actually kick them out. I would have been fine with you choosing "Christian w/secular". I honestly wasn't sure if Catholics separated themselves out, so gave them that option. I could have just as easily lumped them together.

 

Generally Catholics like to be considered Christians, and not separated. Though as a previous poster said, in some homeschool (and other) circles Christian = Evangelical or Fundamentalist.

 

In one of the last threads on the subject of Catholicism there were a few (not many) people who did not consider Catholics Christians.

 

(My family was actually shunned because we were the wrong kind of Christian. So at time I do get my panties in a bunch over this topic. Hence my snide post. Sorry)

 

Thanks again... I'll try to keep to less controversial topics. (Though it can get just as "heated" in a post about comparing math curriculum .....). :001_huh:

Don't worry too much about controversy. It makes for an interesting forum. ;)

[Jenny in Atl]

Secular, but we don't shy away from religion, since it has shape much of history (what people believe and how that effects the decisions they make).

[Rosie_0801]

I am definitely more comfortable with secular materials, but religion is very, very important. Removing the religion from history would be just as inappropriate for us as history taught only from a particular religion's point of view. We'll also be studying world religions but I don't yet know what materials I'll use. Impersonal, is what I'm looking for, I guess. "This is what YOU need to do and believe to be a good Christian/Jew/AnythingElse" would be inappropriate for us. "This is what Christians/Jews/AnythingElses do and believe" would sit more comfortably.

 

Rosie

[Guest momk2000]

I chose other, because I am religious and flexible with the materials we use. We use a mix of Christian and secular materials. But we are not flexible about our religion. :001_smile:

[jdarling]

We are christian.

[Jennifer3141]

We do secular mostly but it's rather impossible to teach history without discussing religion.

 

As for materials, I would never consider anything written from a Xtian perspective.

[mytwomonkeys]

christian here, but not uncomfortable with charters or some secular material.

[Desert Rat]

We are strictly secular, however I will use some curriculum that's not too religious (Life of Fred maths, Latin for Children-although one of the history readers goes too far and we skip some of those chapters).

I teach my boys world religions but my dh and I don't believe in any. My boys can decide when they are ready.

[mom31257]

We are Christians, but don't mind some secular. We are very choosy in that, though.

[twoforjoy]

I'm a Christian, but we're basically secular homeschoolers; there are very few Christian homeschooling materials out there that fit our worldview, theology, or needs. We do use some materials from Christian publishers if they work for us (we use CLE for math and R&S for English). I specifically look for secular history and science materials.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

We're atheist, so I use mostly secular materials. I do teach them about religions. I voted other.