Secular? GASP!

So I live in the South and I homeschool. Most people assume just based on the fact that I homeschool that it must be for religious reasons, but when you pair the fact that I live in the South (capital "S" for emphasis) with that fact then it's a foregone conclusion.

The reality is, if you have come across my blog in the hopes that this is a religious homeschool blog, then I apologize, because it is not. It's not an anti-religious blog, so you needn't run away, but the fact is that religion has nothing to do with our decision to homeschool or our daily curriculum. I choose the curriculum for my son based strictly on its educational value, how it is presented, and whether or not I feel like it is good for his learning style. At times that includes religious curriculum, but for the most part, the curriculum we use is secular.

This seems to freak out other homeschool parents. Perhaps this is because some parents have made the decision to homeschool strictly based on their religious beliefs and don't feel like publishing companies outside of the religious homeschool companies can understand their wants/needs. Many seem to feel there is a shady liberal indoctrination thing going on in the public schools and therefore anything labeled "secular" is tainted. Still others feel like science and religion are totally incompatible, the universe is only a few thousand years old, and people and dinosaurs co-existed. I'm not going to dignify that last bit with a comment. In any case, if you mention the word "secular" in some homeschool circles, you might as well have just confessed to being the devil wanting a good deal on souls.

Us secular homeschoolers are a small but growing bunch. Some of us became homeschool parents because the school system couldn't meet the needs of our children, as in my case when my son first developed intractable epilepsy. Others have found homeschooling to be more flexible for their families and their careers, or as an alternative to broken school systems where they live. In any case, I think it's important to teach our children well and make sure they have the life skills they need. No matter what our reasons for homeschooling, children need to learn how to process information, how to sort facts from opinions, how to think critically, how to research, and how to apply the scientific method. Learning doesn't end when we stop teaching our children; we need to teach them to learn. I want my children to question things and have a healthy dose of skepticism. I don't want them to think that anything they learn outside of our home is bad or wrong.

I won't be his teacher forever. I wasn't his schoolteacher for the first five years of his elementary education, and it is my goal that he one day attends college. He won't be boxed into one type of curriculum there and so I do my best to expose him to a variety of things now. That's the beauty and the curse of homeschooling. We have all the power when it comes to the choices. I, like all the other homeschool parents who pore over curriculum for more hours than can ever be counted, can only hope that I have chosen well.

New goal....

So yeah, it's been over a year since I blogged. Apparently blogging is not my thing, which is too bad. I'm going to give it one more try before I totally give up on it.

All of those books and things that I suggested? Ignore those. I don't even use those. Yeah, that makes me sad too. But that's part of the homeschool mom process. You live and you learn. I will try to take some pictures of some of the work we actually do and post those, as well as list some of the resources and links to places I use.

Baby steps. ;)