mommysweird Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Okay, I totally get SL's philosophy about not "hiding" things from your children. Expose them to the world ideology but under the umbrella of sound doctrine, etc. I agree with that, mostly. I'm just unsure about introducing mythology to my kids at the early elementary ages. I'm curious if the mythology portion of studies is isolated to a few weeks of the curriculum. Would it be easy to skip that and focus on something else during that section of the IG? (Perhaps take a rabbit trail?) Everything I read about SL states how flexible it can be, so I am hoping this is tweak-able (I'm making up words, I know). Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Greek myths are part of the read-alouds and you could certainly substitute another book. That said, my dd enjoyed them, the same way she enjoys a good fairy tale. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommysweird Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 I know my son would like them like a fairy tale, too. I'm still unsure about whether it's right for us at this point to introduce them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I know my son would like them like a fairy tale, too. I'm still unsure about whether it's right for us at this point to introduce them. I have not used Sonlight, so I can't help you there. I just wanted to say that if you decide to skip mythology in the younger years, you are not alone. We did the same and I know there are many others who have. :001_smile: Shannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I know my son would like them like a fairy tale, too. I'm still unsure about whether it's right for us at this point to introduce them. That's totally up to you, there's no right or wrong way to go here. I treated them as stories that the Greeks told each other and that worked for us, but every family is different. It would be very easy to skip the book and replace it with something like The Trumpet of the Swan or another Boxcar Children book. Hope that helps :)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommysweird Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Thank you! I know I wouldn't be alone with deciding to skip the mythology. And I don't want to seem judgmental of others who decided to introduce it earlier. Each family and each child within that family is very different. I just don't know if my son can "handle" it. I want him to be secure in his own faith before I introduce something so powerfully different. I also want him to be mature enough to reason out the matter. At just 7 1/2 (that's what he'll be in August), I just don't think this one's going to be there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I didn't find it to be too bad. There is some stuff about Egyptian gods in both Time Traveler and Usborne World History (UWH), but in both cases it talked about how the priests had to move, cloth, wash, ect...the gods so it was obvious they weren't gods. With the Greek gods CHOW introduces it as a contrast to us believing in "one God." A little generic, but it works. The Usborne mythology book isn't that bad, my oldest still reads it on her own, but that is because she likes them as stories. She absolutely knows they are not true and gives them no weight in a religious sense. She likes all fiction. My 2nd dd hasn't ever looked at them again, but she is my non-fiction gal. I am sure Usborne World History and Time Traveler has more on the Greek and even Roman gods, so watch that. I am sure they probably have a blurb on the oracle of Delphi, which like the others said you can skip. I would say that the mythology/gods are just a few pages here and there. Actually, I had more problems with a picture in UWH of the Vikings in Core 2 killing monks :eek: Luckily you can skip that page too. :D Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calandalsmom Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I think its important for kids to know these and sooner rather than later. So much in understanding literature hinges on allusions to things in mythology. It seems to me like the anti christians who strive so hard to avoid the Bible: it just does you a disservice because later you'll have so much to clarify and explain. I dont think its a MUST for core 1 but I think its integral and important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 We did it recently and it wasn't bad. My kids loved the stories and it allowed us to discuss the stories and our beliefs vs. what they believed. We are pretty conservative and I thought we would read one, but the kids enjoyed it as a real aloud we went with the schedule and read them all. It was spread out over 2 weeks. And we did use it as a way to discuss others beliefs and where they came from. After the Egyptian gods the Greek myths weren't a big deal. I am glad we trusted the SL schedule :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommysweird Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 Thanks everyone for the added detail. I just didn't want to purchase something only to find out that we would have a huge hole in our schedule if we chose not to cover that topic. After I see the materials and read them for myself, I'll decide if it's right for us now or if it should wait until later. I saw the titles in the message Heather posted, are there any others I should look for? I thought I'd see if the library has them and then I could check them out and read them myself to have a better idea of where we should go with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I think its important for kids to know these and sooner rather than later. So much in understanding literature hinges on allusions to things in mythology. It seems to me like the anti christians who strive so hard to avoid the Bible: it just does you a disservice because later you'll have so much to clarify and explain. I dont think its a MUST for core 1 but I think its integral and important. I'm not using SL, but have recently pondered the mythology question - we are a Christian family so I understand where you are coming from. I agree with calandalsmom, and will add that knowing *about* mythoglogy (not falling in *LOVE* with it) is integral to understanding the Bible itself. The 10 plagues of Egypt, the battle between Baal and Elijah's God, Paul's encounters in Greece and Rome all make a deeper impact when you know about the people in that time - and mythology (idolatry) was intertwined in the daily lives of the people. All that to say: It might be better to cover it in a different way rather than avoid it altogether. (Middle school agers are more likely to become *ENAMORED* with mythology when they are not introduced to it before then - jme.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommysweird Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 I think I might have been misunderstood here. I'm not saying that I want to omit it altogether, I'm just questioning whether, for my child, it is right to introduce it at age 7 or wait until later. I absolutely agree that it shouldn't be avoided. But I just want to know that it's a workable situation if I should choose to hold off for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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