WABeth Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 I had a chance to browse through a couple of John Tiner's Exploring the World of ... books at a homeschool meeting last night. I really liked the narrative style and historical elements. It wasn't until I was reading some information about them on Amazon this morning that I realized they may have some Christian content. If you have used these can you describe what, if any religious content or views are expressed and whether you think a secular homeschool family could use these comfortably. I am particularly interested in: Exploring the Earth Exploring the World of Mathematics but also possibly: Exploring the World of Chemistry Exploring the World of Physics Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I am almost done with the Chemistry book, and it gives a lot of biographical information about early chemists who made key discoveries. One of the biographical points for several of the scientists is writing or other evidence that their Christian beliefs were important to them, and/or helped them to believe in advance that a Creator would have put together a systematic creation. Personally, I am Christian, and this was pretty exciting to me--I have not used Christian science books before, and I like the inclusion of this documentable, real history in this text. If I were not Christian, I think that in this particular book, in the way that this information is presented, I would still have found it to be interesting history and to shed some light on the way of thinking behind some of these discoveries. However, I don't know whether or not I would feel the same about the earth science or biology texts. I could imagine some criticism of evolution or of old earth beliefs that might not be acceptable to a non-Christian. I don't know whether they are present or not, but I would be more cautious in using those specific ones without checking on this. To me, though, there is a big difference between saying, Wow, look what God made and how cool it is! and saying, One of the influences on this chemist's life was his belief in a Creator Who could organize everything to suit His purposes. And it is the latter that I have seen so far in the chemistry book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I just bought both the math and planet earth books at our home school convention last week. I haven't had a chance to look them over thoroughly, but I did buy them from the Institute for Creation Research both, so I'm guessing there would be some Christianity in there. I'll have to go look now! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WABeth Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 Thank you for your replies. This was helpful to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Well I am secular, my kids are positively allergic to too many Christian references, and they both felt they were fine. My daughter in particular loved the History of Medicine book, but we have also read the Chemistry one, and i have bought the Mathematics one ready to go. I also bought the Science course that Tiner co-authored and I found the amount of Christian stuff in it to be minimal and very manageable. It could be that a Christian and a non Christian would "see" different things in these Christian books, but it hasn't been a problem here, and I can recommend all his books highly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WABeth Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 Well I am secular, my kids are positively allergic to too many Christian references, and they both felt they were fine. My daughter in particular loved the History of Medicine book, but we have also read the Chemistry one, and i have bought the Mathematics one ready to go. I also bought the Science course that Tiner co-authored and I found the amount of Christian stuff in it to be minimal and very manageable. It could be that a Christian and a non Christian would "see" different things in these Christian books, but it hasn't been a problem here, and I can recommend all his books highly. Thank you Peela, that is what I was hoping to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I just bought World of Chemistry for next year, and this thread reaffirms my feelings about it. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it looked both interesting and secular enough I can handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 We used the one for chemistry along with other things, during logic stage, and it was not over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourmother Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I've never heard to these books, but your descriptions make them sound very interesting. For what ages/grades are they written? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I've never heard to these books, but your descriptions make them sound very interesting. For what ages/grades are they written? They're wonderful! You can learn more about John Hudson Tiner's books here: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=12957&netp_id=267198&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=details Click on his name to see other titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asher Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Could you all see using the Earth Curriculum for a 2nd grader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Well, my children are very visual and I think they would have found it very dry at that age. But I think they're good for logic stage. I wouldn't use them alone as I feel they are more about the history and developments within particular scientific areas and don't really cover the details of the science, itself, as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Well, my children are very visual and I think they would have found it very dry at that age. But I think they're good for logic stage. I wouldn't use them alone as I feel they are more about the history and developments within particular scientific areas and don't really cover the details of the science, itself, as much. But, for instance, the RS4K chemistry coverage of covalent vs. ionic bonds was good but didn't have a lot of examples. The Tiner book didn't use those terms (its main weakness, IMO), but it did cover the periodic table columns that are most identified with those types of bonds even though it didn't use them by name. So, using the two together improved retention and understanding of the periodic table. Great pairing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Exactly. I think these are excellent to flesh out other programs! A perfect complement..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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