Resources
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
In This Issue;
Welcome to the Atheist Homeschool Newsletter
National News; Louisiana Allows Creationist Teaching
National News; Texas... Has ... Issues
Free Freethinkers-In-History Curriculum
From the Message Boards
We have Surprises for You
Writers Wanted
Welcome to the Atheist Homeschool Newsletter
National News; Louisiana Allows Creationist Teaching
National News; Texas... Has ... Issues
Free Freethinkers-In-History Curriculum
From the Message Boards
We have Surprises for You
Writers Wanted
Atheist Homeschool
Proudly brought to you by
http://www.AtheistHomeschool.com
Proudly brought to you by
http://www.AtheistHomeschool.com
Welcome to the Atheist Homeschool Newsletter
I just wanted to take a moment and welcome new readers (pssst, everyone's new)
Please feel free to discuss the articles and items from this newsletter on the
AtheistHomeschool.com message forums. There's a board set up for it already.
The goal of the website, publication, blog and forums are to create an ineractive
community for Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinking Secular Homeschoolers. All
resources and recommendations will be strictly secular in nature and all forum
posts that are non-supportive of Atheism or Homeschooling will be deleted,
banned and subject to public hanging in our "forgive them" folder. In fact, if
you've ever received a flaming email from a believer, feel free to hang them
yourself. So we can collectively forgive them, of course.
I just wanted to take a moment and welcome new readers (pssst, everyone's new)
Please feel free to discuss the articles and items from this newsletter on the
AtheistHomeschool.com message forums. There's a board set up for it already.
The goal of the website, publication, blog and forums are to create an ineractive
community for Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinking Secular Homeschoolers. All
resources and recommendations will be strictly secular in nature and all forum
posts that are non-supportive of Atheism or Homeschooling will be deleted,
banned and subject to public hanging in our "forgive them" folder. In fact, if
you've ever received a flaming email from a believer, feel free to hang them
yourself. So we can collectively forgive them, of course.
National News; Louisiana Allows Creationist Teaching
The National Center for Science Education reports that the State of Louisiana
has officially passed a law allowing Science Teachers to teach the Creation
Theory as truth. The specific wording of the new law states that
"The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, upon request of a
city, parish, or other local school board, shall allow and assist teachers, principals
and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public
elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical
analysis and open and objective discussion of scientific theories being studied,
including but not limited to evolution, global warming, the origins of life and
human cloning."
Funny, I think, that they expect elementary students to be engaging in critical
thinking and logical analysis and open and objective discussion. I'll have to try
that with my second grader next time we discuss the origins of life and human
cloning.
The National Center for Science Education reports that the State of Louisiana
has officially passed a law allowing Science Teachers to teach the Creation
Theory as truth. The specific wording of the new law states that
"The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, upon request of a
city, parish, or other local school board, shall allow and assist teachers, principals
and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public
elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical
analysis and open and objective discussion of scientific theories being studied,
including but not limited to evolution, global warming, the origins of life and
human cloning."
Funny, I think, that they expect elementary students to be engaging in critical
thinking and logical analysis and open and objective discussion. I'll have to try
that with my second grader next time we discuss the origins of life and human
cloning.
National News; Texas... Has.... Issues
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that assault at the hands of an unwanted
exorcism isn't punishable. A Texas Church declared that a 17 yr old girl was
posessed by demonic forces and they decided to assault her to remove the
demons. The girl was hospitalized after receiving cuts, bruises and rug burn
after being pinned to the carpet for hours while church members attacked her in
her home. She has since been hospitalized for suicide attempts and a lower
court jury ruled that she was entitled to retribution for suffering and distress but
the Supreme Court called it an inappropriate entanglement of Church and State.
Similarly, in Tanzania, Albinos are being hunted in their homes because their
organs are believed to possess magical powers. A band of bad guys stormed
into the home of a family as they were sitting down to dinner and chopped off the
legs of a 17 yr old Albino girl, her family witnessed. She bled to death. At least in
Tanzania, government officials are trying to protect the Albinos, and proscecute
the bad guys instead of releasing them, like the Texas Supreme Court did. I
wonder if the Texas Supreme Court would have ruled the same if she had died.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that assault at the hands of an unwanted
exorcism isn't punishable. A Texas Church declared that a 17 yr old girl was
posessed by demonic forces and they decided to assault her to remove the
demons. The girl was hospitalized after receiving cuts, bruises and rug burn
after being pinned to the carpet for hours while church members attacked her in
her home. She has since been hospitalized for suicide attempts and a lower
court jury ruled that she was entitled to retribution for suffering and distress but
the Supreme Court called it an inappropriate entanglement of Church and State.
Similarly, in Tanzania, Albinos are being hunted in their homes because their
organs are believed to possess magical powers. A band of bad guys stormed
into the home of a family as they were sitting down to dinner and chopped off the
legs of a 17 yr old Albino girl, her family witnessed. She bled to death. At least in
Tanzania, government officials are trying to protect the Albinos, and proscecute
the bad guys instead of releasing them, like the Texas Supreme Court did. I
wonder if the Texas Supreme Court would have ruled the same if she had died.
Free Freethinkers-In-History Curriculum
This is a free curriculum that is designed to help kids appreciate historical
figures who have done great work by thinking outside the box. Different
Drummer; Non-Conforming Thinkers in History It's arranged into 19 lessons; so
if you're planning a traditional school year, you can cover one every two weeks
and finish it by the end of the year. I used it with my girls last year and the
materials were suitable for my 7th and 4th grader and easily adaptable for the
kindergartener. We mostly read the biographies and the historical references.
My older girls chose to do some of the book activities, but mostly we read the
biographies and used the other materials to guide our discussions.
I found the idea of several documents confusing and ended up printing the
entire curriculum into a fat 3 inch binder. It made it easier to have the materials
handy, but I can't say that we used it all.
I urge you to share your favorite secular homeschooling resources on the
Atheist Homeschool Messaging Forums.
This is a free curriculum that is designed to help kids appreciate historical
figures who have done great work by thinking outside the box. Different
Drummer; Non-Conforming Thinkers in History It's arranged into 19 lessons; so
if you're planning a traditional school year, you can cover one every two weeks
and finish it by the end of the year. I used it with my girls last year and the
materials were suitable for my 7th and 4th grader and easily adaptable for the
kindergartener. We mostly read the biographies and the historical references.
My older girls chose to do some of the book activities, but mostly we read the
biographies and used the other materials to guide our discussions.
I found the idea of several documents confusing and ended up printing the
entire curriculum into a fat 3 inch binder. It made it easier to have the materials
handy, but I can't say that we used it all.
I urge you to share your favorite secular homeschooling resources on the
Atheist Homeschool Messaging Forums.
From the Message Boards
Currently on the message forum there's a discussion of household finances;
saving money on groceries. There are some valuable techniques posted there
for stretching the grocery budget. Stop by and learn a few new tricks, or share
your secrets!
Currently on the message forum there's a discussion of household finances;
saving money on groceries. There are some valuable techniques posted there
for stretching the grocery budget. Stop by and learn a few new tricks, or share
your secrets!
We Have Surprises For You
This newsletter will be available on our website, too. I encourage each of you to
refer friends and place our button on your blog using the copy & paste text on
the main page. I will be tracking the stats during the month of July. Whoever
sends the most traffic to AtheistHomeschool.com will win an Amazon.com Gift
Card and their blog will be moved to the top of the blogs list page, with a
thoughtful review.
Writers Wanted
Of course, quality Atheist-Homeschool content is always welcome here. Send
submissions to newsletter@atheisthomeschool.com.
This newsletter will be available on our website, too. I encourage each of you to
refer friends and place our button on your blog using the copy & paste text on
the main page. I will be tracking the stats during the month of July. Whoever
sends the most traffic to AtheistHomeschool.com will win an Amazon.com Gift
Card and their blog will be moved to the top of the blogs list page, with a
thoughtful review.
Writers Wanted
Of course, quality Atheist-Homeschool content is always welcome here. Send
submissions to newsletter@atheisthomeschool.com.
