s/o Bob Jones University... Christians using BJU homeschool materials? CC

[Annabel Lee]

Apparently I'm young enough to have learned, for the 1st time, much about BJU from the big thread on the university. I noticed Christians in the thread agreeing that they wouldn't want to send their kids to BJU.

 

Before reading that, some BJU homeschool materials were on my list of things to look into for future use. I need to read up more about the intstitution, b/c I did not like the things I read in the other thread that BJU has said/done, and don't want those ideas to get into my kids' heads. I'd like to know what other Christians here think of their homeschool curricula. It is this forum where some rave about their Reading & Science. For Christians who won't use their homeschool materials, can you please fill me in? I'm especially interested in any academic, educational concerns with their materials.

[Parrothead]

Well, their stuff won't cross my threshold due to the fact that they are blatantly anti-Catholic. Somehow they got my address and once a year I get a mini-catalog. It goes straight to the outside trash from the mailbox.

[Catwoman]

We used the BJU DVD program for several years, and I have to say that while my ds was younger, it was very good. It was a little preachy, but in more of a "be a good person" kind of way, and there were nice little Bible stories and that sort of thing. The last grade level we used was 7th grade, and by that point, I was becoming more and more uncomfortable with the heavy-handedness of the religious component of the curriculum -- which was integrated into every subject. (The anti-Catholic stuff started getting pretty obvious by that point. Until then, there were occasional comments I didn't like, but it wasn't blatant, and it was easy to ignore or skip.)

 

I think you need to know if you agree with the BJU religious philosophy before you decide to use it, because if you agree with their beliefs, I think it's a good program, particularly if you use the DVDs, because most of the teachers are very good. (Don't get me started on a few of the math teachers, though...:glare:) That said, I think any curriculum is going to need some tweaking, whether it's a Christian or a secular program, so I think BJU could work for many families as long as they are at least "sort of" Christian. If you are absolutely, positively, totally secular, you should run the other way, though.

 

We were able to skip over most of the hardcore Bible stuff for a long time -- when the student was supposed to look up Bible verses, we just skipped it, and when the lectures sometimes got a little preachy, we would either discuss why we don't believe the same things, or else just skip the offending sections. But eventually, it got to be more than I wanted to deal with, and we ended up ditching the program. Honestly, though, I would have continued with a few subjects if the DVDs weren't so costly per individual course. It seems like such a rip-off to pay almost as much for a few courses as I would pay to purchase the complete grade level package.

 

One last thing -- I know that some people have had some issues with BJU customer service, but I found them to be exemplary, and would recommend them to anyone. We had to delay some of our schooling due to a bad storm, and BJU told us we could keep the DVDs for a few months extra at no charge, and still paid the return shipping when we were ready to return them. And any time I had a question, they seemed to really know their stuff.

[Princess Peach]

I would direct you to this thread for some input. I will manage to finish out the year with the BJU stuff I have because I could not afford to replace it. I have done so with much editing and tweaking, though. I will never buy it again.

[OnTheBrink]

We have very limited exposure to the materials; we just used their space and earth science for part of the year. I didn't have a problem with that, but BJUP isn't something I'd seek out. I used it because dd wanted to do astronomy and this text fit the bill for what she wanted. I'd not seek it out because textbooks don't really fit well with how my dd learns, for the most part.

[amyrjoy]

In preparing for the ending lessons of my daughter's reading program with Bju, I found a couple things that really upset me. Right now, trying to decide how to approach the reading curriculum....abandon it or skip what I don't like. I really feel like ditching BJU because it upset me that much, the content of some worksheets. We do only use it for some reading, and I'm sure I'd find a different alternative for reading comprehension, etc.

[Kathryn]

I have never and will never use their materials, but I'm interested in what, specifically, is objectionable. I've seen the charges of racism and anti-Catholicism, but I'd be interested in knowing exactly how this looks.

[Plucky]

Apparently I'm young enough to have learned, for the 1st time, much about BJU from the big thread on the university. I noticed Christians in the thread agreeing that they wouldn't want to send their kids to BJU.

 

Before reading that, some BJU homeschool materials were on my list of things to look into for future use. I need to read up more about the intstitution, b/c I did not like the things I read in the other thread that BJU has said/done, and don't want those ideas to get into my kids' heads. I'd like to know what other Christians here think of their homeschool curricula. It is this forum where some rave about their Reading & Science. For Christians who won't use their homeschool materials, can you please fill me in? I'm especially interested in any academic, educational concerns with their materials.

 

I really dislike BJU. My dd is using it at her private school. The science is confusing, and the questions in the back of the chapter frequently don't have any reasonable answers from the text. I'm so glad I never used it at home.

 

I'm going to base next year's class registration on the curriculum. So glad that next year's science teacher does not use BJU.

[amyrjoy]

kebg11-:tongue_smilie:Feel free to go to my blog to see one example.

[Kathryn]

kebg11-:tongue_smilie:Feel free to go to my blog to see one example.

 

Thank you!

[Whereneverever]

I have an older world history book of theirs. All I can say is I really don't agree with how they present other peoples and places.

[ssavings]

I have never and will never use their materials, but I'm interested in what, specifically, is objectionable. I've seen the charges of racism and anti-Catholicism, but I'd be interested in knowing exactly how this looks.

 

The sample chapter of the British Literature student text takes the time to call the Catholic Mass idolatrous. I understand that there's a fundamental difference of theology, but still, the difference of theology could be phrased in a more charitable way.

 

.... And why does it belong in a literature text? ... And what's in the non-sample chapters?

[Annabel Lee]

I don't even know what to say, I'm so shocked right now. I had pieced together a couple used elementary grade BJU Reading programs. Amyrjoy, I have that very workbook you spoke of in your blog. I looked it up and, just WOW. :001_huh: That is not my style.

 

Nuts. I was trying to make things easier on myself by having pre-written guides to follow. So... how about CLE? Anything I should know before looking at their reading for lit. analysis teaching/exposure?

[Kim in Appalachia]

but when my oldest was in 9th grade I needed something for French, something that taught the material in a traditional method. We tried BJ DVD program just for the French and my dd did great with it. We then used the whole program for 10th. It was great prep for the college classes she took in 11th and 12th grade.

 

I don't agree with BJ's philosophy, and I have found a few things that I needed discuss with my dd, but overall I was pleased with the curriculum. I think it is academically sound. (the science teaches creationism, we do skip those chapters, but the rest is very good) We did not use the Bible, so I can't speak for that.

 

We are currently using BJ for reading. There are a few preachy stories, but nothing bad. I've used Rod and Staff for my younger kids. It has it's own slant.

 

Our family is Presbyterian, which doesn't quite fit with either the R&S or BJ's view. We discuss things we disagree with. I haven't found anything terribly offensive, preachy yes, and definitely with a certain worldview/slant, but still a good option for homeshool material.

 

I am the kind of homeschooler that will use whatever works. I don't care if it's secular or Christian. We have always used a wide variety of materials. I never thought I would use BJ, but I've learned never to say never. :001_smile:

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

can you please fill me in? I'm especially interested in any academic, educational concerns with their materials.

We have used something from BJU for the past 19 years. Their math is excellent as is their science. It has the most interesting stories for their reading curriculum compared to other reading programs I have used. The Phonics Language for K and 1st above and beyond other programs I have tried. The High School material is college prep. If used as BJU has it written, a child will get an excellent education using BJU.

 

As for the religious aspect, I have had no problem with it. I knew it was a Baptist curriculum when purchased. I did not find the elementary level preachy and in your face religious.

[Alison in KY]

You might check on the curriculum forums. I know the K-8 folks will highly recommend BJU science. My son is using the grade 7 distance learning science this year and it is extremely rigorous for him. I've started giving him open book tests in the hopes he'll pass a few more of them :tongue_smilie:.

 

I was really surprised by the some of the comments on the other thread about BJU not being a very good academic school. All I've ever heard is how challenging their high school and middle school courses can be. I do believe, and may be wrong, that My Father's World chose to use a few of the BJU history texts for their high school courses.

[Halftime Hope]

We have used opme of their high school textbooks.

 

The math books left a lot to be desired; the practical application problems were woefully thin, and IMHO you would need a good teacher to round out the presentation of concepts. (for that reason, we <3 <3 <3 our Lials books.)

 

Their high school science texts were rigorous, but one would need to be comfortable with a creationist viewpoint or be willing to "just move along" in order to be happy using them. The new editions are more readable and flow more logically.

 

The lit anthologies are very good (granted I haven't looked at the Brit Lit recently) and we really appreciated the way they tied worldview and philosphy into the context readings and the author biographical sketches. I was surprised that they did not include any Steinbeck in the AmLit book, but that's easy enough to remedy. There are only a certain amount of pages, ya know?

 

I *hated* the Spanish textbooks. Like math, foreign languages benefit from a presentation that is rich in graphics and that uses layout to chart and differentiate concepts from prose. They don't use those tools to their advantage at all. I also really dislike that they spend so much time on churchy/missionary vocab and conversation practice. And that's in spite of my strong spiritual beliefs!

 

hth

 

BTW, Abeka history and some of their geography and similar materials used to have a very patronizing, Manifest Destiny, "the US is God's tool for evangelizing the world" flavor to them. I don't know what they've done in recent editions. I chalked off Abeka, except for their grammar workbooks which are excellent, a long time ago.

[amyrjoy]

I don't even know what to say, I'm so shocked right now. I had pieced together a couple used elementary grade BJU Reading programs. Amyrjoy, I have that very workbook you spoke of in your blog. I looked it up and, just WOW. :001_huh: That is not my style.

 

Nuts. I was trying to make things easier on myself by having pre-written guides to follow. So... how about CLE? Anything I should know before looking at their reading for lit. analysis teaching/exposure?

 

Well, glad I'm not the only one who thought those things..um....yeah. :glare: I can use secular programs no problem, but for some reason, this is leaving a yucky taste in my mouth to think about continuing with it (BJU reading). :confused: I don't want to, but then again the skills taught are important, but...I don't want to. LOL. :tongue_smilie: I don't have any experience with CLE- maybe someone else does because I thought about using that instead too. Or logic books/critical thinking instead along with being diligent to test reading comprehension orally/using narrations.

[Lolly]

I have used many of their high school materials. The math is excellent. The geography and history are excellent. The science is top of the line (just add in a bit on evolution from a different viewpoint/I like mine getting both sides!). The foreign language is good. We used it with the dvd's which really improve it. The English is pretty good. (But, we used Rod and Staff for elementary. Can't ever better that!) My kids know that any questions on religious material is counted as bonus. They just put an answer down for it and move on. If we come to a very preachy section, we skip it. The only negatives I have heard about BJU have come from these boards. Eh, I live in a little bubble. ;)