I was pleased to find that the Orlando Atheism Examiner included a link to my website in her recent article titled Secular Homechoolers find Darwin on their Own, discussing the recent news (duh) about the fact that most homeschool science books bash the idea of evolution.
I had to laugh (snort, actually) when I scrolled down to read the comments and saw that the Los Angeles Atheism Examiner, Hugh Kramer, commented:
Very interesting. I didn’t realize there even was a secular homeschool market.
Come on, man. I feel like who in whoville, shouting “We are here, we are here, we are here”
Although, to be honest, we’re not shopping for curricula either. Unschooling has been working out really well for us. But still. Is he not understanding that sometimes, Atheists reject institutionalized education as well as institutionalized spirituality?
Anyway- check out the lady’s article. Examiner.com pays their writers based upon page views, so let’s show her how much we love that she linked to me and that WE ARE HERE, dammit!
And if you live in Seattle, check out my friend Lisa’s articles on Examiner, too. here are a few titles…
Seattle mom teaches Self-sufficiency at Songcroft School
Virtual homeschooling conventions
Video teaches teens how to protect their civil rights
Free admission to science museums in Seattle and Tacoma
and finally, no matter where you live, your kids can get free bowling this summer
We use a curriculum-in-a-box, but when I was curriculum-shopping, I discovered that the most academic ones were also secular. When I was first deciding to homeschool, the religious curricula were downright atrocious both in their educational lack and their horrible, horrible editing and typos.
I have a homeschool store and I can GUARANTEE that there are secular and atheist homeschoolers out there!!!!!!
What is difficult is finding good quality secular materials. It is frustrating. I spent over a year looking for secular science materials to carry in my store. In fact, I’m very open to hearing about science materials anytime!
WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE! WE ARE HERE!
Peace, Karen
BTW, Stlhomeschoolresources.com
St. Louis Homeschool Resources!
I’m not sure where/how to post a general question on this website, but here it is….
I am an atheist who’s homeschooling and I have decided that I want to make sure I am not supporting right-wing Christian businesses when I buy materials. I decided this after I bought some Singapore Math books from a Catholic website and they approvingly quoted a right-wing religious nut saying that the earthquake in Haiti was caused by the Haitians because they rejected Catholicism and practiced Voodoo–as in, “They deserved it”.
SO, does anyone know whether the “Easy Grammar” books by “Easy Grammar Systems”, for instance, are religious-based? What about The History of the World series?
I homeschool my 8yo, and were really into maths and science.
Im not that excited by the traditional curricula, so I tend to latch onto ones that stand out. There are a few that have a religious agenda which I was actually quite surprised by.. but I guess there is a sector of parents who homeschool in order to put more emphasis on their religion. We are the opposite, we want to put the emphasis on science, reading, maths, art and especially questioning :]
Currently we are enjoying :
– http://www.artofproblemsolving.com [ ‘beast academy’ series and prealgebra ]
– khanacademy.com
I highly recommend Dawkins’ recent “The Magic of Reality”. Superb artwork and lucid explanations, actually a very good review on science for adults also. Theres a few entertaining quips at religion along the way, but the science takes centre stage, with some historic context.
My child and I discussed a lot of maths concepts by drawing rectangle diagrams… so much so that I ended up making a free web app which is handy for this. Other children may enjoy it, see treeblurb.com/doctorx.
My wife and I are homeschooling our daughter for the first time this year due to a total failure on the part of the Montessori that we PAID to educate her. In order to do so, we had to become part of a homeschool partnership and I am not happy. The administrator signs every email with ‘blessings, xxxxxx’. Last week, I received an email invite to a rollerskating (which my daughter loves) social event for homeschool kids. I was all over it until the last sentence: “Christian music will be played.” WTF? I wonder what all of the homeschool moms (who sit around comparing insipid iPad apps while waiting for the swim class to finish at the Y) will think when I walk in wearing my Zombie Jesus t-shirt tomorrow (the bottom reads, HE IS RISEN).