Homeschooling and Religion Part 2

Because of how vocal the Christian homeschooling group is, much of homeschooling curricula, currently available, is geared toward Christians. Since many of these Christians believe they should honor God in all they do (don't all Christians believe this? Yet, there are many different beliefs in how to go about it across the board), the curriculum is frequently liberally sprinkled with Christian references, if not completely written with religious instruction in mind. For instance, a popular English program (one that is excellent by the way) uses Bible stories and hymns to teach many of the lessons. In at least one lesson, the children are instructed to practice note taking during a sermon. You can see where that would cause problems for the non-Christian. The problem here is not that there is Christian curricula. The problem is that there is little good secular curricula. As a result, those Christians who don't want other people telling their children what to believe (again, not all Christians believe the same things), and non-Christians have to either adapt Christian curricula or, more often, deal with substandard curricula. This problem is very similar to the third ripple.

Many homeschoolers are "isolationists". There, I've said it. We are not isolationists because we want to be, we are isolationists because we have no other choice. After all, many homeschoolers have been rebuffed by parents who send their children to traditional school. Whether this is because those parents don't agree with homeschooling or because it makes them feel guilty (they think they should be doing it, too), the outcome is the same. Homeschoolers are frequently shunned. Add to that the fact that many Christian homeschoolers want their children to be around like minded families and you've created another major problem for secular homeschoolers. Secular homeschoolers are homeschoolers that are homeschooling for reasons other than religion. This doesn't mean they aren't religious or don't have high morals. It just means they are not homeschooling for religious reasons. For Christian secular homeschoolers, this doesn't always create a problem. But for everyone else, it can be a major problem. You see, many Christian homeschool groups require you to sign a statement of faith. This ensures only like minded people are part of the group. In a co-op situation, it means that you won't have someone teaching your child something you don't believe-at least it should. After all, some Christians believe in evolution. Some believe in evolution through creation. And some believe in creation only. So, even using a statement of faith doesn't guarantee like mindedness.

I believe that Christians have the right to do this. These are private organizations. In my opinion, they have the right to include or exclude whomever they choose. The problem is not that they exist. The problem, like that of the curricula, is that there is a dearth of secular groups. In case you haven't noticed, Christians are a majority in America. Unless you live in an extremely liberal area, it is hard to find large secular homeschool groups. The city that I live near does have a wonderful secular homeschool group. The problem is that we are spread out all around the city (many of my closest friends are over an hour's drive away) and there are not a lot of children. Because there is not a large variety in ages of children, it can be hard to make friends. For instance, most of the children my sons' ages are girls. Xavier and Dominic don't mind this, but it puts a crimp in sleepovers. Yet, I know that there are multiple homeschool families living within a mile of my home with male children my sons' ages. In fact, I believe that the family whose back yard backs up to mine is a homeschool family. (Yes, I know I should go knock and introduce myself but I'm just a wee bit shy. My neighborhood is not so much a community as it is a bunch of houses next to one another.) There is one more ripple I want to discuss.