liltrees Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) For those of you that teach science from a creation standpoint, but would like your children to infomed of the "other side" as well, at what age do you introduce the theory of evolution? I'm curious because I'm considering using AIG's God's Design for Science next year with my boys, which please correct me if I'm wrong, does not cover evolution at all. We have discussd evolution as each issue has come up this year using Sonlight, but I'm curious if you do something formally with your children to expose them to other ideas or is it handled on an issue by issue basis? I'm on the fence with using a strictly creation text....any thoughts? Thanks for taking the time to sort me out! :001_smile: Edited April 17, 2009 by liltrees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSNative Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) I haven't used AIG so I can't answer that part. We are creationists, but I started teaching my kids about evolution around 1st-2nd grade. Their friends were learning about it and I wanted them to be knowledgable. I tried to teach them Darwinism the same way I teach other subjects. We went back to original docs - Darwin himself - and read what the man himself said. Darwin mentions some problems with his own theory - primarily the lack of transitional fossils when there should be millions. We then investigated that to see if any had been found, etc. I focused on the fact that reasonable people can disagree on this and that they can debate respectfully. (Seems to be working. Overheard them discussing with evolutionist buddy and they were all very calm and sharing) :) Edited April 17, 2009 by MSNative fat fingered keyboard and accidently deleted paragraph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Great question. Nice post, Jcodevilla. I'm curious too :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyto6 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 (edited) My children are still young (oldest is 6) so until recently we have just discussed it as it has come up. However, In the last few weeks we have been going through the book "A is for Adam" from AIG. I HIGHLY recommend this book as a great resource for introducing this subject to that age group. It has a coloring page for each lesson and a couple of pages of teacher's notes for each lesson. There is also an activity to do with each lesson. My boys are really enjoying it and learning alot. Here's a link if you're interested: http://answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/A-is-for-Adam,4312,184.aspx HTH! Edited April 17, 2009 by mommyto6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 We discuss it as it comes up in the early years but more formally once they hit jr high or high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 We did "creation myths from around the world" in Junior High. Basically how each culture saw creation. We covered the Vikings, Maori, Hopi, Japanese, etc etc. There is a great website full of creation stories (includes Christianity as 'Hebrew'). Then we did 'our' Creation story....Christian. (using the Bible of course) Then we did the current world view of 'creation', evolution. I'm afraid we cheated and just used the Eyewitness Guide to evolution rather than original documents. Now when it comes up, I will say at the beginning of the current book....this is an evolution based book, or this is a creation based book, so we don't have to stop and discuss it each time. Willow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 We did "creation myths from around the world" in Junior High. Basically how each culture saw creation. We covered the Vikings, Maori, Hopi, Japanese, etc etc. There is a great website full of creation stories (includes Christianity as 'Hebrew'). Then we did 'our' Creation story....Christian. (using the Bible of course) Then we did the current world view of 'creation', evolution. I'm afraid we cheated and just used the Eyewitness Guide to evolution rather than original documents. Now when it comes up, I will say at the beginning of the current book....this is an evolution based book, or this is a creation based book, so we don't have to stop and discuss it each time. Willow That sounds like a really cool book. Like alot of the other posters above, I just discuss it with my daughter as it comes up. I talk to her freely about other countries and their cultures and how different peoples around the world have different religions and belief systems. That book sounds like a very cool way to do it though. :) I think one thing I would do is to make sure that they are strong enough in their Christian faith before introducing it, if they are the type that may get confused or have their faith shaken. Just my humble 2 cents for what it's worth. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 We have exposed our children to other world views/religions from the beginning. Since none of us live under a rock, this has not been hard to do. Of course, we teach the truth of the Bible, but we also tell our boys that when any of us do not believe God's truth, we come up with our own ideas/beliefs, such as evolution. We strive not to turn it into a "enlightened us vs. stupid them" kind of attitude or discussion. Even Christians can have a warped worldview based on a warped understanding of God. FWIW, the God's Design science books (from AIG) do have teacher's notes on discussing creation/evolution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in the Country Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 I've found evolution can come up quite a bit, whether from the few secular science books we have to watching PBS children's programming. We just discuss it when it comes up. Worldview training never ends. It goes on in and out of school time. I plan on using more formal Creationist/ID texts when we get to middle school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liltrees Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 Thank you so much for all the help! I really appreciate each of you taking time to help me sort....!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 For those of you that teach science from a creation standpoint, but would like your children to infomed of the "other side" as well, at what age do you introduce the theory of evolution? I'm curious because I'm considering using AIG's God's Design for Science next year with my boys, which please correct me if I'm wrong, does not cover evolution at all. We have discussd evolution as each issue has come up this year using Sonlight, but I'm curious if you do something formally with your children to expose them to other ideas or is it handled on an issue by issue basis? I'm on the fence with using a strictly creation text....any thoughts? Thanks for taking the time to sort me out! :001_smile: I started teaching my ds about evolution at 5yo, casually as it comes up. When he is in the logic stage and finds it fun to argue, I will search around for resources that really delve into the scientific evidence we have and philisophical sides of the theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spock Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I use a mix of creation science books (Dinosaurs by Design, Dinosaurs and the Bible, Apologia science texts, etc) and library books, as well as Nova, Nature, and other PBS shows. Naturally, the PBS shows and library books take it for granted that evolution is true, just as the creation science books take it for granted that the Biblical account of creation is true. (Although most of the creation science books we have do spend a fair amount of time explaining the basics of evolution and why we do not believe in that theory.) In the elementary years I just let them know that the theory of evolution exists, and that people who do not accept the Bible had to come up with another explanation of how everything began, and that is what they came up with. I remind them periodically that we do not agree, and give reasons as they seem ready. Starting in 7th grade, and repeating periodically thereafter, I start having them research creation/evolution more in-depth. Since we do use a lot of library/secular books to supplement our Christian texts, they get a fair amount of exposure to evolutionary beliefs (both what is believed and why). I add Refuting Evolution 1 & 2 by Jonathan Sarfati, The Answers Book by Ken Ham, and various other resources to explain the young Earth Christian viewpoint. (I have also considered adding old Earth Christian books, but so far I have only brought up those points in oral discussion.) This topic, along with a wide variety of others, comes up fairly often in discussion in daily life as well. I do believe it is important for any educated person to be familiar with the theory of evolution, whether or not they accept it as true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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