lionfamily1999 Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 We've beaten theology to death, imo. Outside of religious beliefs, how much has/does/will our dcs education be effected by the opinions of their parents? I'm using the founding fathers as an example, because it seems like most people have strong opinions where they are concerned. My favorite: Benjamin Franklin, although I do believe Thomas Paine does not get credit he deserves. I know ds will learn much more about Franklin and Paine at home, than he would in ps, because of my feelings. I want him to see the incredible contributions that both men made towards the creation of our country. Least favorite... Thomas Jefferson. Now, I know this will end up with ds having a different angle on Jefferson than many of his ps peers. While I agree that the man was very intelligent, I hold him in very low esteem. I'm sure that there will be more of a look towards the negatives when we begin learning about him. I know our religion will have some bearing on what and how we learn, but I believe that my personal opinions, outside of religion, will have a stronger bearing. Agree, disagree, discuss.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 So far - and I've gone through one entire 4-year cycle of history and am on year 2 of our second time through the cycle - my personal opinion of people and events haven't really influenced how much time we've spent on important people in history. We've studied some people I have absolutely no esteem for (ie. Hitler) but I acknowledge that he had a huge impact on the history of his time and that still affects us today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Oh, yes, personal opinion and personal love of any particular subject will definately influence what is taught, or more accurately, how some subjects are taught. Just this morning, dh asked, do they really need to know all this diagramming of sentences? Whaaa??? Of course! How dare he dare besmirch or defame my beloved grammar! I countered with, "well, do they really need to know anything beyond the basic math operations?" Of course dh (math minor) had a short fit of apoplexy. Our agreement is they need it all. But they get a more in depth teaching session depending on which parent is teaching that particular day. My ds9 knows more about Mary Queen of Scotts than most of his ps peers simply because he was subjected to his mother's overly dramatic re-enactment of her beheading (complete with the little dog running out from under her skirt). Just so happens to be my very favorite period of history so he gets more. The Vikings? Well, the book taught that sufficiently for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Oh definitely. I love history so we're doing the eight year plan for that. I can't pass up the opportunity to read yet another great book about the agrarian revolution or Isaac Newton to the boys. Someone once said that every family has something they do very, very well. Other things they aren't so great at. Well, our five-star subject is history. I've got one of them converted to amateur historian, the other I'm still working on. We are passing on a very nice Landmark biography of Ethan Allen that I'd dearly love for the boys to hear. But time does not allow me to explore every single rabbit trail, though I follow as many as I possibly can.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Isn't it funny, then, that personal opinion almost seems to be a plus, whereas beliefs are so often seen as stifling? Personally, I'm so excited about learning all these new things that I think we're going waay deeper than necessary in nearly every subject ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Isn't it funny, then, that personal opinion almost seems to be a plus, whereas beliefs are so often seen as stifling? Well, I guess that's a matter of personal opinion :tongue_smilie: Frankly, I suspect that it is just easier (less apt to come across as intolerant, less likely to be flamed or to inadvertantly give or take offense, or whatever) when "talking" about subjects other than religion in this particular environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 Least favorite... Thomas Jefferson. Now, I know this will end up with ds having a different angle on Jefferson than many of his ps peers. While I agree that the man was very intelligent, I hold him in very low esteem. I'm sure that there will be more of a look towards the negatives when we begin learning about him. I'll bite. What's your beef with Jefferson? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 He knew that slavery was inhumane and wrong, but he did nothing to change it in his own life. He wrote about it, he spoke about it, but he did nothing, personally, to show he felt it was wrong. I think that's worse than some ignorant person holding slaves. He KNEW that owning another person was wrong. He said it was like holding the wolf by the ears, yet he continued to be a slave holder. For someone to understand the inhumanity, the 'wrongness' of what they are doing and justify it for others is one thing; to justify it for themselves is a whole 'nother ball game. Do you have a fav/least fav out of anything in history, that would impact how/what you teach your dcs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Well, I guess that's a matter of personal opinion :tongue_smilie: Frankly, I suspect that it is just easier (less apt to come across as intolerant, less likely to be flamed or to inadvertantly give or take offense, or whatever) when "talking" about subjects other than religion in this particular environment. That strikes me as really funny, but then, I have way more personal opinions than I do religious opinions, iykwIm. My opinions may be colored by my religion, but it's also rooted in my upbringing, personal experience, etc. So, it seems like personal opinion would be even less objective than religious belief. IOW, religion figures in, in some places, but personal opinion (imo) colors everything. Why all the fuss over religion, when p.o. has so much more sway. Even in religion, personal opinion colors how/what we believe. Our political affiliations are colored by our opinions, everything is, but the biggest concern seems to be how religion and politics effects our kids education (not just homeschooling, but in any school), what doctors we use, where we shop, what we eat; in reality, it seems, to me, that personal opinion, involving everything from what's fashionable, to what's tolerant, to what's good and bad, holds greater sway than either of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 That strikes me as really funny, but then, I have way more personal opinions than I do religious opinions, iykwIm. My opinions may be colored by my religion, but it's also rooted in my upbringing, personal experience, etc. So, it seems like personal opinion would be even less objective than religious belief. IOW, religion figures in, in some places, but personal opinion (imo) colors everything. Why all the fuss over religion, when p.o. has so much more sway. Even in religion, personal opinion colors how/what we believe. Our political affiliations are colored by our opinions, everything is, but the biggest concern seems to be how religion and politics effects our kids education (not just homeschooling, but in any school), what doctors we use, where we shop, what we eat; in reality, it seems, to me, that personal opinion, involving everything from what's fashionable, to what's tolerant, to what's good and bad, holds greater sway than either of these. Well yes, but isn't religious affilaition/belief just an outgrowth of personal opinion, too? I don't know why it is so easy for some to take offense regarding political/religious opinion, but not other strongly held personal opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Meanest, that's what I'm trying to understand too. There's all this fuss about religion and right or left wing, but what it really boils down to is personal opinion. The ironic beauty of it all is that personal opinion really is person specific, so even when a group of whatevers get together to express 'their opinion,' what they're doing is ignoring their own personal opinions for the sake of argument and altering those opinions to fit into the groups opinion. All for what? To have a louder voice to yell with? The creation post got me thinking about this, coming after so many theology posts. People, myself included, got so passionate in their defense of catergories, while ignoring the parts of themselves that did not fit into those catergories. I wonder why we feel the need to chop ourselves into pieces to fit a specific catergory, why do we mold ourselves to fit into other people's boxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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